Mölten: Hiking, Churches and the Salten

If you would like to combine nature, regional history and unhurried days during a holiday in Mölten, the village offers an unusually diverse setting. A section of the European long-distance hiking trail E5 leads across the Tschögglberg through Mölten and connects Hafling, Vöran, Mölten and Jenesien at an altitude of around 2,000 metres. The Salten, located between Mölten and Jenesien, is considered Europe's highest larch plateau.

High-altitude trails, larch groves and views of the Dolomites

Mölten has numerous well-marked hiking trails, scenic high-altitude paths and gentle summit tours. On the Salten, hikes and bike tours are possible in a landscape with moderate inclines; by bicycle, the plateau can be explored through larch groves. The Wetterkreuz at Möltner Joch offers a 360-degree mountain panorama, while the Stoanernen Mandln provide mountain views across the Dolomites.

Horse-riding excursions are another possible holiday experience. The landscape around Mölten, with its alpine pastures, larch meadows and Dolomite panorama, is ideal for extended rides on Haflinger horses. Mölten and the Tschögglberg are considered the birthplace of the golden-blond, even-tempered Haflinger horses. This brings landscape and regional identity together in a particularly vivid theme.

Churches and history around Mölten

The ecclesiastical history goes back a long way: the parish of Mölten has had a parish church and six branch churches since as early as the 13th century. On Langfenn stands the Romanesque Church of St James, at the highest point of the Salten plateau at 1,525 metres; it is located on prehistoric ground. Its altar depicts Saint James, Rochus and Sebastian. The Romanesque Church of St Anne is the cemetery church and may be just as old as the parish church. Its wooden altar houses a stone Pietà dating from 1440.

Other religious buildings add different historical accents. The tower of the Church of St Blasius is Romanesque; the church was extended and remodelled in the Gothic style around the year 1500. It contains a Baroque fresco from 1621 entitled “The Feast of the Rich Glutton”. The patronal feast of the Church of St Blasius in Verschneid includes the distribution of the Blasius blessing on 3 February. The Chapel of St Valentin in Schlaneid was built in 1769 at the request of the local population in a simple Baroque style. Below Schlaneid, the ruins of the old Church of St Valentin lie in the Valteswald forest.

The Church of St Georgen near Versein also stands on a historically significant plateau. Numerous finds from the Bronze Age provide evidence of prehistoric settlement there. The carved Gothic altar of the Church of St Georgen is decorated with statues of Saint George, Saint Oswald and Saint Leonhard. You can ask for the key to the Church of St Georgen at the neighbouring farm. A court document from 1540 records that witch dances and devil celebrations were held at the Stoanernen Mandln.

Fossils and South Tyrolean sparkling wine

The Fossilia Fossil Museum displays fossils found in the surroundings of Mölten and illustrates geological processes that took place over millions of years. Fossilia is designed as an outdoor museum and can be explored independently with explanatory texts and an audio station. This makes a visit to the museum an opportunity in its own right to view the geological past of the surrounding area at your own pace.

Another local speciality is ARUNDA. The production of South Tyrolean sparkling wine by ARUNDA in the village centre of Mölten can be traced back to 1979. Guided tours of the Arunda sparkling-wine cellar, including a tasting, take place on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10:30 a.m.; registration is required. In this way, sparkling-wine culture adds a culinary insight into the village to the themes of hiking and history.

Orientation for your days in Mölten

From the centre of Mölten, hikers can reach the Church of St Ulrich in Gschleier via hiking trails 13 and 15B. The church offers hikers a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains. For a change of location, the Mölten cable car takes passengers from Mölten down to the Adige Valley in four minutes. A hotel in Mölten can therefore be particularly interesting if you would like to combine hiking, mountain views, churches, geological history and regional culinary culture in one trip.

More destinations to compare

If you would like to consider other places for your travel planning in addition to Mölten, here are further destinations: Castelrotto, Santa Cristina Val Gardena, Renon, Lake Carezza, Tires, Jenesien, Ortisei Val Gardena and Sarntal.

To the higher-level travel overview: Salten-Schlern.