Mölten: Hiking Trails, Mountain Views and History
Accommodation in Mölten
Hiking and landscapes around Mölten
Mölten offers hikers numerous well-marked trails, panoramic high-altitude paths and gentle summit tours. A section of the European long-distance trail E5 leads over the Tschögglberg through Mölten and connects Hafling, Vöran, Mölten and Jenesien at an altitude of around 2,000 metres. From the centre of Mölten, hikers can reach the Church of St. Ulrich in Gschleier via hiking trails 13 and 15B. The Church of St. Ulrich in Gschleier offers hikers a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains.
The Salten, located between Mölten and Jenesien, is considered Europe’s highest larch high plateau. The Salten is ideal for hikes and bike tours through a landscape with moderate inclines. The Salten can be explored by bicycle through larch groves. The Wetterkreuz at Möltner Joch offers a 360-degree mountain panorama. The Stoanernen Mandln offer mountain views across the Dolomites. The landscape around Mölten, with its alpine pastures, larch meadows and Dolomite panorama, is suitable for extended riding excursions on Haflinger horses.
Mölten and the Tschögglberg are considered the origin of the golden-blond, good-natured Haflinger horses.
Churches, history and fossils
The parish of Mölten has had a parish church and six subsidiary churches since as early as the 13th century. The Romanesque Church of St. James stands on the Langfenn at the highest point of the Salten plateau, at an altitude of 1,525 metres, and is located on prehistoric ground. The altar of the Church of St. James depicts St. James, St. Roch and St. Sebastian.
The tower of the Church of St. Blaise is Romanesque; the church was enlarged and given a Gothic makeover around 1500. The Church of St. Blaise contains a Baroque fresco from 1621 entitled „The Feast of the Rich Glutton“. The patronal feast of the Church of St. Blaise in Verschneid includes the distribution of the Blessing of St. Blaise on 3 February.
The carved Gothic altar of the Church of St. George is decorated with statues of St. George, St. Oswald and St. Leonhard. The key to the Church of St. George can be requested directly at the neighbouring farm. St. Anna serves as a cemetery church and may be just as old as the parish church. The wooden altar of the Church of St. Anna houses a stone Pietà dating from 1440.
The Chapel of St. Valentine in Schlaneid was built in 1769 at the request of the local population in a simple Baroque style. The ruins of the old Church of St. Valentine lie in the Valteswald forest below Schlaneid. The Church of St. George is located on a historically significant plateau near Versein; numerous finds from the Bronze Age provide evidence of prehistoric settlement there.
The Stoanernen Mandln also have a historical tradition. A court document from 1540 proves that witches’ dances and devil-worship ceremonies were celebrated at the Stoanernen Mandln.
The Fossilia fossil museum displays fossils found in the area around Mölten and illustrates geological processes that took place over millions of years. Fossilia is designed as an open-air museum and can be explored independently using explanatory texts and an audio station.
Sparkling wine cellar and connection to the Adige Valley
Since 1979, ARUNDA has been producing South Tyrolean sparkling wine in the centre of Mölten. Tours of the Arunda sparkling wine cellar with tasting take place on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10:30 a.m.; registration is required.
The Mölten cable car takes passengers from Mölten down to the Adige Valley in four minutes.
Further destination pages: Lengstein, Wolkenstein In Gröden, St. Ulrich In Gröden, Völs Am Schlern, Karneid, Ritten, Deutschnofen, Eggen.
To the overarching travel overview: Salten-Schlern.
