Raas und surroundings: The high plateau „Natz/Schabs“

nearby, natural, authentic…

The small village of Raas with about 550 inhabitants is located in the southern part of the plateau at an altitude of 820 m.

The curch St. Ägidius - Raas

The church of Saint Aegidius in Raas is a late-Gothic building, which was finished under the direction of Thomas Maurer in 1532. Actually there was an older church there, which was consecrated in 1173. The interior furnishings are neo-Gothic and date back to 1880.On the high altar you can admire a statue of Saint Aegidius, the patron saint of the church and the protector of the wine-growing. Therefore every year on the 1st September early grapes are hanged on its hand.
Close to the church of Saint Aegidius there is the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre. The chapel was built in honour of the Holy Sepulchre of Christ and contains wood carved statues of Christ’s Passion, a nice crucifix and a mobile altar. In the steeple there are two tiny bells. They are rung above all when a storm is threatening.

The tradition was kept alive for a long time. But after a while people thought it could be enough and stopped with it. At once there were crop failures.
Therefore they reintroduced the bread donation again after some years. Since then the tradition were celebrated every year, also in the hard years of the world wars, when the farmers had not enough bread themselves. Every farmer gave a certain amount of grain and every year it was the turn of an other farmer to bake the bread.

Only every 16 year it was the turn of the same farmer. The bread was distributed as follows: to begin with the neighbour of the farmer became some loaves of bread, the so-called “Warmer Stoß” (“warm portion”). Each of the other farmers received five loaves as “Koster” (“taster”), the sexton 20, the gravedigger 30. In addition to that, the “Augidi farmer” could keep a big number of the loaves for himself, which he served for free in the evening of the Day of Saint Aegidius to the people of the village who came to his house to celebrate.

Since 1974 the local fire service has taken over this tradition of the bread donation. Nowadays they go from door to door in order to collect a small donation for the Day of Saint Aegidius.

The biotope Raier Moos - Raas

The Raier Moss has a size of 10 hectares and is habitat to many fruit-bearing trees, animals, plants and fish. The walking tracks lead you throught untouched nature and forests. The hill "Waldelebühel" provide you with a stunning sight over the Raier Lake and the surroundings.

Since 1986, the Raier Moos is a protected biotope.

Castle Rodenegg

The magnificent Rodenegg Castle is situated on the southern part of the entrance of the Pustertal Valley. The access is possible only through a drawbridge.
Rodengegg Castle is worth a visit for many respects: the inner courtyard, the “stuben” (typical wooden living rooms), the armoury, the library, the collection of coins and paintings, the dungeon of the “Mangialiquidi” (a figure of a legend), frescoes. Among them are the famous frescoes of Ivan, which are the most ancient testimony of secular, chivalrous-courtly culture of the German speaking area. They were discovered only in 1973 and can be dated back to 1200. The scenes are impressive. It surprises, that secular murals were accepted by the ecclesiastical dignitaries at the time.

Augustinian abbey of Neustift

Since its foundation by the bishop of Brixen Hartmann in 1142, the Augustinian abbey of Neustift made a name for itself. It offered shelter to the pilgrims on their journey towards the Holy Land and Rome and was an important spiritual and cultural centre of Europe.Testimony of this important role is the extensive and famous library with valuable manuscripts, the historic collection of paintings, the extensive activity concerning education and also the popular wine cellar.

The mine museum – Ridnaun

“The good silver of Monteneve” was written already in 1235 in the notary books of Bolzano. The mine was closed definitely only in 1980. It was the biggest lead and zinc bed of Tyrol.
You can visit the museum, the display gallery, the mineral preparation plant and further exhibition halls

Plose ski and hiking paradise

Lifts

• Plose- St. Andrä Tel. 0472 200 433
• Mühlbach/Meransen Talstation Tel. 0472 849 712 Bergstation Tel. 0472 520 158
• Meransen/Gitschberg Tel. 0472 520 322
• Jochtal Tel. 0472 547 113

Swimming

• Acquarena, Altenmarktgasse 28b, Brixen www.acquarena.com Tel. 0472 823 670
• Swimmingpool Mühlbach Tel. 0472 849 510
• Swimmingpool Klausen Tel. 0472 846 126
• Swimmingpool Feldthurns Tel. 0472 857 917

Törggelen

Toerggelen is a typical South Tyrolean custom that originates in the Eisack Valley and today seems to be more popular than ever. A typical Toerggele meal takes place with friends to the sound of music and accompanied by sweet must and new wine. Generally the meal includes a barley soup, Tyrolean ravioli or cheesy dumplings as a starter and a butcher’s platter with salted meat, spare ribs, various sausages, dumplings and sauerkraut as the main dish. To round off with there’s roast chestnuts, nuts and sweet doughnuts, plus apples and grapes.

The word “Toerggelen” comes from the “Torggl”, which is the room where the grape presses used to stand in olden days.

The Cathedral of Brixen and its cloister - Brixen

The first cathedral can be dated back to the 10th century. It was destroyed in 1174 during a fire and then rebuilt. In the interior of the cathedral there is a monumental and baroque atmosphere. Powerful are the ceiling paintings of Paul Troger from Welsberg.

Apart from the high altar, there are other eight side altars, which alone because of the names of their donors underline the importance and the diversity of this basilica.
The architectonic jewel of Brixen is the cloister of the cathedral, which is directly connected with it. It is an art historical monument of out most importance and can be dated back to the 10th century.
The cloister of Brixen with its arcades and frescoes, of which the majority can be dated back to the 14th and 15th century, is the heart of the complex of the cathedral.

The Episcopal seat of Brixen with the Diocesan Museum and the Crib MuseumThe Diocesan Museum was founded in 1901 and has been situated in the Episcopal seat of Brixen since 1976. This palace, which was built after 1250 as residence of the prince-bishops of Brixen, was the Episcopal seat until 1964. The exhibition of sculptures, paintings and arts and crafts shows the development of the religious artistic production from the Romanesque period to the Modernity. Of national importance is the rich collection of Romanesque crucifixes and Madonnas, the diversity of Gothic sculptures and panel paintings, and the medieval manuscripts.

Distances from Raas:

• Brenner 45 km
• Brixen 9 km
• Bruneck 35 km
• Bozen 50 km
• Meran 80 km
• Sterzing 30 km
• Reschen 145 km
• Plose 25 km
• Gitschberg 20 km
• Vals 20 km
• Cortina d`Ampezzo 85 km
• Gardasee / Riva 150 km
• Verona 210 km
• Venedig 300 km
• Innsbruck 80 km
• Lienz 100 km
• Salzburg 270 km
• Wien 550 km
• München 240 km
• Zürich 400 km
• Flughafen Bozen 55 km
• Flughafen Innsbruck 80 km
• Flughafen München 280 km
• Flughafen Verona/Villafranca 190 km