Ossana is a comune in the province of Trento, Trentino-South Tyrol region of Italy, about 74 kilometers from Trento.

Trentino-South Tyrol · Trento

Ossana

A small Val di Sole borgo at the foot of a 25-metre stone keep, with Christmas nativity scenes filling its streets every December.

1003m

Elevation

74 km / 46 mi

Nearest hub (Trento)

819

Population

Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Borghi più belli d'Italia

Why come

Ossana sits at 1,003 metres in upper Val di Sole, where the Vermigliana stream joins the Noce and the road climbs to the Passo del Tonale on the border with Lombardy. The village is dominated by the Castello di San Michele, whose 25-metre keep was probably raised in the Lombard period and is first documented in 1191. The fortress controlled the route between the Adige valley and the Brescian uplands, and the iron mines in the surrounding mountains. It passed through the hands of the prince-bishops of Trento, the Counts of Görz-Tirol, and finally Bertha von Suttner, the Austrian pacifist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905. The Touring Club added Ossana to I Borghi più Belli d'Italia in 2022. Each December the village fills with more than a thousand wooden and straw nativity scenes, set among the houses and along the streets.

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Gallery

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Known for

Castello di San Michele
Medieval fortress dominating the village, with a 25-metre stone keep first recorded in 1191, restored by the Province of Trento and open as a visitable monument.
Borgo di Ossana
Compact historic centre of stone houses around the castle hill, recognised as one of I Borghi più Belli d'Italia in 2022 and a Gold-class destination for dark-sky astrotourism.
Chiesa di San Vigilio
Parish church of the village, with origins in the medieval period and frescoes inside the apse, a few steps below the castle.
Val di Pejo and Stelvio National Park
Side valleys north of Ossana climbing into the Stelvio National Park, with the glaciers of the Ortles-Cevedale group and the Pejo thermal springs.

When to visit

Best months · Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

June through September is the high-valley summer: trails open into the Stelvio National Park and the Adamello-Presanella group, the castle keeps long visiting hours, and night skies are dark enough for the village's dark-sky programme. December through March is the ski half of the year, with the Tonale and Pejo lifts ten kilometres away and the December presepi display drawing weekend visitors from across Trentino. April, May, October and November are the closure months. Hotels and lifts shut for spring and autumn maintenance. Winters at 1,003 metres are cold and snowbound; summer days stay below twenty-five.