Buonconsiglio Castle: opinion essay

On our first day in Trento we took a walk along that beautiful city. The visit had its last stop in the Buonconsiglio Castle. This monument, which was built in the 13^th century, was the residence of the Prince-Bishops of Trento for nearly six centuries and that's why it's full of history.

The Buonconsiglio Castle is the largest and most important monumental complex of the Trentino Alto Adige region.  One of the places we liked the most was the upper part, a gothic balcony made by a series of columns and arches from where we took a lot of beautiful pictures. Downstairs there was a nice garden with a fountain and plenty of gorgeous frescos that impressed us.

Despite the fact that we spent a short time there, it was enough to learn a bit more about this beautiful city. As we see it, it was one of the most enjoyable visits because they didn't focuse the visit on giving a lot of information but on a visual and interactive learning.

From our point of view, this monument is one of the most interesting and beautiful to visit in Trento. No one should miss the oportunity to visit the castle at least once in their lives.

History of Trento (III)

With Napoleon's defeat in 1814 , Trento was again annexed by the Hambsburg Empire. The church government was finally extinguished, so Trento was now being governed by the secular government of Tyrol. In the next decades Trento experienced a modernization of administration and economy with the first railroad in the Adige valley opening in 1859.

History of Trento (II)

In the 14^th century Trento became part of the Austrian rule, under the domain of the Habsburg family. This political status will continue for the following six centuries. 

A dark episode in the history of Trento was the Trent blood libel. A three-year-old Christian boy, Simonino, disappeared in the eve of Good Friday, and the Jewish small community of Trento was accused of killing him, for which eight Jews were burned in a stake and the boy was canonized. 

In the 16^th century the city became notable for the Council of Trent (1545-1563) which gave to the rise to the Counter-Reformation. The prince bishops Bernardo Clesio and Cristoforo Madruzzo, both great European politicians and Renaissance humanists, embellished and expanded the city. During this period, and as an expression of this Humanism, Trento was also known as the site of a Jewish printing press. 

Prince-bishops ruled Trento until the Napoleonic era, when it bounced around among various states. Under the reorganization of the Holy Roman Empire in 1802, the Bishopric was secularized and annexed to the Habsburg territories. The Treaty of Pressburg in 1805 ceded Trent to Bavaria, and the Treaty of Schönbrunn for years later to Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy. The population resisted French domination with gunfights. The resistance leader, Andreas Hofer, recovered Trento for the Austrias for a while, but 4000 volunteers from Trentino died and Hofer was executed on the express order of Napoleon.

History of Trento (I)

Hello everybody! As a part of our research work about Trento, in the following posts we will tell you the history of this awesome city, which played a relevant role in Europe's History.

The history of Trento is essential to understand its multicultural society and its relevance.

The foundation of the city of Trento goes back to the 4^th century BC, due to its privileged position on the river track to Bolzano and the low Alpine passes. It was a Celtic village, whose name derives from “Trent”, a tribute to the Celtic god of waters.

Trento was conquered by the Romans in the 1^st century BC. Because of its three mountains and the river Adige, the Romans gave it the name of “Tridentum” as a tribute to the god Neptune. During this period the city started to earn wealth as an important stop on the Roman road that led from Verona to Innsbruck. 

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the independent bishopric of Trento was ruled by Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Lombards and Franks, and it ended up as a part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1027, Emperor Conrad II created the Prince-Bishops of Trento, giving the region certain independence, although in the following centuries the power was always held between the Bishopric of Trento and the County of Tyrol (a sort of State of the Holy Roman Empire). Around 1200, Trento became a silver-mining center of some importance.

Family travel: Montes Orientales (1 weekend)

We will go by car to Moclín, where we will stay at a charming Hostal which also serves as a museum and as a restaurant. We will arrive late, so that evening we will just have time to visit the castle. We will go up the hill and look at the wonderful landscape, then we will walk through the castle. We will have dinner at the town's square, chatting with the locals and eating a delicious barbacue. 

Saturday morning we will move to Piñar.  In this traditional village we will visit the Cueva de las Ventanas, considered a Good of Cultural Interest. It is a place full of historical remains. After the visit we will meet with our friend Paco, who will be our guide at Piñar. We will have lunch with him at the restaurant “La Almazara”. 

Later we will move on to Iznalloz, a beautiful village just 20 minutes away. There we will visit the “Cueva del Agua”. Located in Sierra Harana, it is a huge net of subterranean galleries without a fixed direction, as the whole cave is a fault. After the cave we will pass by a supermarket and we will buy some food in order to do a picnic gazing at the stars.

After this exhausting day we will come back to the hotel and rest for our last day. After these two days of culture it is time to do some sport. Next morning we won't hurry to get up, because we want to be ready and energetic for the hiking. We will have a huge breakfast, like the British one, to gain strength. We will depart from the hermitage of Moclín, the starting point of the “Ruta del Gollizno”.This amazing route goes down to the “throat” (gollizno) of the river, and it connects Moclín, Tózar and Olivares. We will enjoy its beautiful landscapes, we will see prehistorical paintings, we will play at Corcuela's fountain and we will pass through the suspension bridge. Once we get to Olivares we will look for the restaurant “Los Lalos”, famous for its gorgeous barbacue. We will continue the route after the meal, going all the way up to Moclín. There we will have a shower and say goodbye to our friends at the hostal.

In our way back to Granada we will chat about the experience looking at the sunset. It would be a great experience that we would never forget.

Hostal with breakfast included (56x2x2) = 224€

Barbacue 1^st night = 36€

Cueva de las Ventanas (8x4) = 32€ 

“La Almazara” (invited by our friend)

Cueva del Agua (free)

Supermarket dinner = 11€

“Los Lalos” = 34€

Total Cost = 337€

Class travel: Montes Orientales (1 day)

We will take a  bus from the centre of Granada to Piñar. In this traditional village we will visit the Cueva de las Ventanas, considered a Good of Cultural Interest. There is a prehistorical cemetery as well as stalactites, stalagmites, paleontological and archaeological remains. After the visit we will take a walk around Piñar, and we will have lunch there. Once we finish the bus will carry us to Moclín, a key town in the history of Andalusia. There we will meet the mayor who will tell us about the history and culture of this beautiful area. To end up, we will follow the Gollizno Route, an ecological path which connects Moclín with Olivares. During the route we will enjoy its astonishing landscapes, several viewpoints, a suspension bridge and Corcuela's fountain; ideal places to take pictures. We will come back tired to Granada in the bus that departs from Olivares.

Cost (per person)

Bus 4€

Cueva de las Ventanas 8€

You will have to bring your own food.

Results comments

After the Italians had left we filled out a survey about our experience, and some conclusions could be drawn from the results.

Students have enjoyed being in group both for activities and the work. However, some people have some doubts about the effectiveness of working in groups as some people don't do their part of the work. Moreover, students thought that the assignments were not clear at all and they didn't feel confident presenting it in front of the Italians.

There were no communication problems with the Italians due to the fact that we are bilingual. They mostly used Spanish to communicate and sometimes English improving their vocabulary but they  learned some Italian as well. 

In conclusion, everybody has enjoyed the experience and they are satisfied with the results of the work. This European project is absolutely worth doing

Our expectations for this year are almost the same. We hope we will learn more about environmental-friendly tourism as well as having fun here working on the projects and in Italy learning about this beautiful country.