Castles of the valley

The relatively uneventful history and the continuity and some old nobles families have permitted the Noce valleys, the region north-east of Trento, to preserve and considerable number of castles and manor. Most of the castles, nearly all preserved, are private property and thereforecannot be visited unless permission is granted by the owners. Their presence is, however, a constant features. Tile Valle di Non and the Valle di Sole, although the second is the natural extension of the first, differ considerablv in their history and economv. The Valle di Non has alwavs been the most populated and wehalthiest valley in Trentino. Lyng on the route between Lombardy and the South Tvrol, its people vere guickly granted citizenship bv the Romans, as the famous Cles tablet attests (a Roman edict found in Cles). However, the reasons for its importance and the large number of castles in the valley lie in the Middle Ages, in the supremacy of the Counts of Flavòn (a few traces remain of the castle of the same name) and in the clashes with the ambitious Counts of the Tyvrol and the Prince Bishops of Trento. The fortified manor houses of the nobles are quite distinctive ‑ runal residences crowned with towers although lightened by Renaissance touches. In the upper Val di Non, on the other hand, it is more northern tastes that stand out, with the Gothic style being apparent in both the structure and the decorntions. On the whole the Val di Non boasts the most elegant and important castles in Trentino and it is a great shame that many are privately owned and therefore not open to visitors.