Casere, hiking above the clouds

At the northern end of the Ahrntal Valley, which with the Valle di Tures further south constitutes a reference for the ski resorts in the area in the province of Bolzano, is Casere, a hamlet of 87 inhabitants in the municipality of Predoi. Located at almost 1600 m. Asl about 115 km north-east from the capital, just below the Vetta d'Italia, it is known, together with two other neighboring villages, as the northernmost locality of the peninsula. The village is located in a narrow green tongue, the terminal part of a plateau surrounded by the surrounding high peaks and lapped by the fir forests that cover its slopes. Its origin can be traced back to the extraction of copper, a vital activity of the valley from prehistoric times to the end of the 1800s, even if the name derives from the activity of processing dairy products and cheeses from the mountain pastures of the area. Today Casere is a reference point for tourists and hikers and for an art handed down from generation to generation by women, the work of bobbin lace. Among the most interesting buildings, outside the center, to the north of the town, is the small church of Santo Spirito, in late Gothic style, dating back to 1455. Starting from the north-eastern part of the town, take one of the many nature trails that summer period are the real attraction of Casere, and after having taken it you immerse yourself in a long path in contact with uncontaminated nature which, after almost three hours between streams, stone steps, old mines and the remains of small glaciers leads to 2603 meters of the Giogo Lungo Refuge for a relaxing break above the clouds.