Dimaro
Height: 772 s.l.m. - Inhabitants: 933 (totaly 1224)
Over the years Dimaro has become one of the most important economic centres in Val di Sole. Dimaro’s fortunes are linked to the boom in tourism that took place in the sixties. It is a starting point to arrive at the skiing resort at Folgarida and a centre for both summer and winter tourism. As well as its many hotels Dimaro also has a large number of artisans, farms and voluntary organisations. New structures for entertainment and culture, such as the Community Theatre, have also been built.
In the village there are supermarkets, food and sport shops, bakery, butchery, confectionery, bars, restaurants, pizzerias, chemist’s shop, medical service for tourists, veterinarian, banks, post office, hairdresser, wellness centres, laundry, renting shops, car repair shop, public library with internet service, bus and train station including ski bus, fitness gyms, children playing ground, basket, bowling green, athletics track, cyling track, rafting and mountain bike centre, free climbing wall practice, nordic walking track, pc-nic areas.
History
The town of Dimaro is situated on the road that from Val di Sole leads to Rendena and Giudicarie. The town has ancient origins. The discovery of an bronze sword and a coin from the time of Anthony would seem to suggest that the area was inhabited in both pre-Roman and Roman times. It appears as Imaio in documents from 1211 and as villa Jmarii in the middle of the 14th century. In medieval and modern times it formed part of Pieve and Gastaldia di Malè, and then during the Austrian government it belonged to the Judicial District of Malè. The town is situated between the streams of Meledrio and Rotian, which have flooded it Several times. The importance of the town, controlling the road to Campiglio, is marked by the existence of the ancient house of the Dazio (tax collecting house), which belonged to the nobles de Mazzis in the 16th century. During the reign of Napoleon, Dimaro was annexed to the Municipality of Presson. During fascist times it became the municipality of a commune that was widened to include Bolentina, Montes, Monclassico, Presson and Carciato. After 1946 only this latter hamlet has remained part of Dimaro. In the second half of the 20th century the town expanded rapidly due to the new tourism based economy.
Art
On the right wall of the presbytery of the church of Saint Laurence a fragment of a mural was found (one can see the eyes and the forehead of a face looking downwards) which dates back to Carolingian times and brings to mind the famous portrayals of Saint Benedict at Malles. The lacertus was first used in the walls of the Romantic chapel and then in the present late 15th century building, which was built by Adamo di Laino d’Intelvi. The building, which was extended in the middle of the 20th century, has a splayed portal in the façade and a single nave that is covered by a ribbed vault. The apsidal area preserves several frescoes painted by Giovanni and Battista Baschenis in 1488: the Evangelists, the Crucifixion, a series of saints, the Three Wise Men. The 17th century wooden altars were carved by the workshop of Ramus and Bezzi. The murals in the hall date to 1937 and are the work of Trentino artist Matteo Tevini (1869-1946).
A must see
By following the road that leads to the Campo Carlo Magno Pass, it is possible to easily reach the “Malga di Dimaro”, one of the places closest to the hearts of the inhabitants of the central part of Val di Sole. It is situated opposite the majestic peaks of the Brenta Dolomites, the most striking of which is Sasso Rosso (Red Stone). The Malga also offers its visitors the possibility to taste and purchase cheese and charcuterie (dressed pork products) produced at the Malga. These are genuine and high quality products.
Carciato
Height: 765 s.l.m. - Inhabitants: 255
A tiny hamlet belonging to Dimaro and located on the opposite side of the Meledrio stream, Carciato has recently become a refined top class residential area. Carciato is a lively village from a cultural standpoint and in recent years, especially during the summer season, has been offering number of events housed in the old dairy, mainly dedicated to art.
History
The toponym, apparently coming from a marshland plant named càrice (sedge), is witnessed as early as in 1215 (Carçanum) and in 1220 (de Carza). In the 14th Century the village was run by an assembly (or Regola) of family heads. Since the 16th Century the village was part of an independent curacy with Dimaro, belonging to the Malè Parish . Only at the beginning of the 17th Century the village had a small church of its own. Under the Italian kingdom, Carciato was linked with the Presson municipality, then regained its independence under the Austrian empire. In 1928 it became part of Presson again, but regained independence along with Dimaro in1953.
Art
The tiny church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist is dating back to the mid-18th Century and replaces a small prayerhouse built around the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th Centuries. The sloping façade has a neoclassical portal at its centre. The interior is aisle-less and is split into two spans with two side chapels and ends in a polygonal apse.
The stucco work main altar with a marble-like painting houses a not so important canvass. The inner surface of the apse cupola boasts a painting representing the 18th Century Assumption of Holy Mary. The furnishing is enriched by wooden statues of a 197h Century Garda school.
Folgarida
Height: 1350 s.l.m. - Inhabitants: 36
Built on the road going from Dimaro to Passo Campo Carlo Magno and then to Madonna di Campiglio, the Folgarida ski resort is today one of the most important economic centres of the Trento region both in terms of summer, and especially winter, tourism . The erection of the modern resort started in 1965, to gradually expand to become a centre boasting a large number of facilities and tourist amenities, developing along a twofold road axis on different levels, directly linked to the State road. A great number of lift facilities get to the top of mount Folgarida (1864 m), with a direct link with the nearby Marilleva and Madonna di Campiglio ski slopes, that together make up a ski carrousel where skiers can freely glide down the slopes on all sides of the mountain.
History
The Folgarida toponym comes from the Latin “filicaretum”, that means “fern place”. Mount Folgarida has been exploited for centuries in the framework of the valley’s forestry and pasture-based economy and was known as early as in 1220, according to a written document quoting three cheese heaps that local tenants were bound to pay to the Trent Bishop tax authorities.
A must see
Not far from Folgarida, along the narrow, evocative Val Meledrio, a small chapel is there to remind the place where, as early as in medieval times, on top of the so-called hillock of Saint Brigida used to rise an ancient hospice ruled by monks that, according to a legend, would have been set up by the Knights Templars.
The old road used to go up along the Meledrio river and provided a link between Dimaro and Passo Campo Carlo Magno, going down again towards Campiglio, one of the most frequented passage roads.
