Description of the attraction
Via dei Bottai is one of the oldest streets in the historic center of Bolzano, often called the “gateway to the city”. It originates from Via Streiter and still attracts tourists with original forged signs of numerous craft workshops. Until the early 13th century, the street was called Wangener-Gasse, after the aristocratic von Wangen family who owned the castle of Castello Roncolo.
It was through Via dei Bottai that, from the end of the 13th century until relatively recent times, all traffic from Brennero passed. After all, Bolzano was an important medieval trade center, which was accessed through the Wangen Gate. These gates were located at the corner of Via Andreas Hofer and Via dei Bottai, where today the South Tyrol Museum of Nature is located.
Since Via dei Bottai, thus, was the "entrance" street of the city, it housed numerous hotels, restaurants and public institutions, as, indeed, today. Arriving in Bolzano after a long and tiring journey, merchants could rest here and change horses before sending them off to business meetings in the "covered galleries" area. The medieval Via dei Bottai was an incredibly busy and crowded street that could be driven by carts with six horses. Today, this street is part of the city's pedestrian zone, which stretches from Via Museo through the fruit market to the Covered Galleries in the very center of Bolzano.
Via dei Bottai is still famous for its public institutions, some of which are marked with old signs made of wrought iron, and some of them have been located in the same houses for hundreds of years. For example, the Eisenhat and White Horse taverns, where you can enjoy local food until late at night, or the Mondschein Hotel, famous for its cozy wood-paneled dining room, and the Hotel Pfau, which is housed in one of the few buildings. Bolzano, built in Art Nouveau style.
At the very end of the street stands the Maximilian House, built in 1512 in the late Gothic style. Once it housed the office of Emperor Maximilian I, and now - the Museum of Nature of South Tyrol. Opposite you can see the building of the Diocese of Augsburg, which housed a prison from 1803 to 1899-1, where Tyrolean freedom fighters Peter Mayr and Andreas Hofer were imprisoned.
