Margreid at the Wine Road

Margreid at the Wine road is one of the most beautiful wine villages in South Tyrol.

Although it was only mentioned for the first time in 1182, the coin and settlement findings from the Roman times point to a much earlier settlement date.  The historic village centre with its building structure has kept its authenticity; numerous aristocratic mansions stand side by side, as well as German Gothic architecture with a southern Renaissance and Baroque.  Stone-framed portals, dome-shaped round arch windows, long staircases, small loggias and many artfully designed window grills give this village a special character. 

The village area consists of approximately 14 km², of which 131 hectares are used for vineyards and 191 hectares for apple orchards.  About 30% of the 1,150 inhabitants live mainly from the orchard and vineyard cultivation.  Therefore, Margreid not only hosts three wine cellars but is also the headquarters for the fruit co-operation association Kurmark-Unifrut (www.kurmark-unifrut.it) to which the farmers of Margreid, Kurtatsch, Kurtinig and their neighbouring villages deliver their harvest.  Once a week (apart from July), there is the opportunity to follow the production process first hand.

If you would like to find out more about Margreid, Mr Stephan Mair will guide you through his village. 

Click on www.margreid.bz

  Village map in pdf format

Suburb: Unterfennberg

The only suburb of the village of Margreid is situated at an altitude of approximately 1,030 metres above sea level on the same high plateau and has about 60 inhabitants, who mainly live from cattle farming. 
Originally, Unterfennberg was a holiday village for the population of Margreid, Kurtatsch and Kurtinig from end of June to the beginning of September, in order for them to escape the humid and mosquito-rich Etschtal.  Even the canons of the Augustine monastery of Saint Michael near the Etsch river had their summer residence in Unterfennberg.

At the Fennberg mountain, you can find the same flora and fauna as at the northern shores of Lake Garda, as well as the warm air flow, which moves from the lake towards the famous wine-growing region.  The wine cellars of Castle Turmhof-Tiefenbrunner (Europe’s highest altitude Müller-Thurgau wine estate) produce the ‘Feldmarschall von Fenner’ in their Hofstatt estate. 
More than 35 types of orchids, as well as freshwater cray fish and other partly threatened types of plants and animals can be found in the 10 hectares biotope around the Fenn Lake.

Around the church yard of the idyllic Roman Saint Leonard’s chapel, there is an iron chain, which – according to the legend – grows every seven years by one link.  As soon as the chain is able to surround the church area three times, the world is supposed to come to an end.