Prato allo Stelvio

This small town of just under 4,000 inhabitants is located in Val Venosta (Vinschgau), the long valley that runs down from the Austrian border through the Italian South Tyrol. From here the road to the Stelvio and Umbrail passes starts.

In our "Switzerland Tour outside Switzerland" 2022, we did not drive over the Stelvio, one of the most difficult mountain passes in Europe, but we did stop in Prad am Stilfserjoch, the real name of Prato allo Stelvio.

As in the rest of South Tyrol and in Aosta Valley, the Fascist period led to a forced Italianization and "Italian" place names were simply invented.

The photos on this page are taken from a small series of panoramas shot in the hamlet of Montechiaro, which belongs to the municipality of Prad am Stilfserjoch... a hamlet which name is actually Lichtenberg.

Observing our strange camera, an old lady asked us in German what we were doing. As we don't speak German, we asked her if she spoke Italian. She told us that she didn't, that she had only learned a little at school...

South Tyrol, an autonomous region of Italy, has preserved its language, culture and traditions!