by Marie-Luise Stromer

Created on: July 12, 2009

So you're thinking of travelling to Italy and getting to know the country? If you like shock treatment, fly straight to the South, to Naples or Palermo, and throw yourself into the street life there, if you prefer things to move more slowly, though, it may be a good idea to start exploring the country from the town of Trento, 140 km south of the Austrian/Italian border.

It is the first 'real' Italian town, the area north of it, South Tyrol, is more Austrian due to its history, it only became part of Italy after WW 1. Many people there are bilingual, if they want to become civil servants, they must know Italian and German.

The valley of the river Adige on whose banks Trento is situated has been inhabited since prehistoric times it having been one of the main branches of the amber route. The Romans built streets there (The Romans built streets everywhere!) so that their legions could march north more comfortably to conquer the transalpine regions; in the first century BC they founded Tridentum.

The town reached its greatest splendour in the 16th century, up to then Gothic architecture prevailed, later Renaissance buildings were added and in the 18th century the baroque ones, nowadays you can find a mixture of all these styles together with modern buildings which are rarely as impressive and beautiful as the old ones. Trento has 106 000 inhabitants and is the capital of the northernmost Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige.

Let's begin our tour at the train station, you can leave your baggage there, and walk out following the sign 'i' to the tourist information in Via Manci (about 150 m) where you can get a very good town guide in English free of charge. The map shows the location of 19 palaces in the town proper four of which you can see stepping out of the office on the opposite side of the street. They are not single buildings but integrated into the row of houses, each has a signpost beside the entrance with information in Italian, German and English.

Everything is orderly and clean in Trento, according to other Italians a heritage of the region's Austrian past. In a recent survey asking how the inhabitants of a town rate its infrastructure and services for the public Trento came out tops, nowhere were the people more content with their hometown.

Most of the streets have cobblestones, the pavements are covered with grey and pink slabs of granite; watch your steps, when wet they can be quite slippery. Let's turn right and go through the

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