Val di Non meadow-orchard

An agricultural plateau in the heart of Trentino

The Val di Non is a broad plateau cut by deep gorges and overlooking Dolomitic walls, where agriculture has reshaped the landscape through a continuous and orderly gesture. Here wood tells an ancient story, but it is the apple that has redrawn the horizon.

Until the second half of the nineteenth century, the valley was marked by a fragile economy. The failure of silkworm and vine cultivation—compromised by parasites and diseases—fueled emigration. Then came the turning point: investing in apple cultivation. The first experiments gradually took hold between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when forage meadows and fruit trees still coexisted in the fields according to the “meadow-orchard” model.

The Apple Revolution and the Birth of a Cooperative System

After the Second World War, specialized fruit growing became firmly established. Mechanization replaced animal labour, planting rows became denser, and cultivated surfaces expanded. Today, an average of between 4 and 4.5 million quintals of apples are produced annually in Trentino, and about 7,000 of the province’s 9,500 hectares of apple orchards are concentrated in Val di Non. Most producers belong to cooperative organisations coordinated by the Melinda consortium, which manages marketing and promotion on national and international markets.

The result is a strongly anthropized agricultural landscape: in valley floors and more accessible terraces, orchards have replaced permanent meadows and, in some areas, portions of forest. In spring, flowering creates light, compact carpets; in autumn, the orderly rows return the image of an efficient production system capable of generating prosperity, yet today called upon to face new challenges—from environmental sustainability to coexistence with urban centres and growing tourism.

Wood and the ancient sawmills of the valley

Before the success of the apple, wood had represented an essential resource for centuries. During the nineteenth century, numerous water-powered sawmills were built along minor waterways, using hydraulic energy to transform logs into boards. With the arrival of electricity, many of these structures were decommissioned, and only a few have been preserved as testimony to industrial archaeology, such as the Venetian sawmill of Coredo, today open to visitors as the Segheria Veneziana di Coredo.

Lakes, canyons and water landscapes

The Val di Non is also a land of water, marked by canyons and artificial basins that have reshaped its original morphology. The Lago di Santa Giustina, one of the largest in Trentino, is surrounded by castles, sanctuaries, and small villages—historical landmarks that coexist with the contemporary agricultural landscape. Along the lake shores, when water levels drop, roots and tree trunks emerge. From these materials, artist Marco Matalar created Radicosauro, a large wooden sculpture of a fantastic creature that seems to rise from the lake, transforming what the water reveals into a visual narrative. The installation becomes a modern legend, weaving together imagination, environment, and local identity.

The Fairy Forest: art and nature along the valley's paths

Not far away lies the so-called Bosco delle Fate, a portion of forest populated by wooden carved figures—gnomes, animals, and legendary characters—created by a local sculptor who, after an accident, found in carving a new expressive language. Here the forest becomes a narrative space where families and visitors immerse themselves in tales of nature and craftsmanship.

Unlike other Alpine valleys where the forest dominates the collective imagination, in Val di Non identity is linked to a balance made of geometric fields, agricultural infrastructure, and cooperative storage facilities, while forests climb the uncultivated slopes, preserving biodiversity. Those who travel through the valley follow clear lines: rows of orchards, stone retaining walls, and roads connecting farmsteads and villages. But a simple deviation onto a woodland path or a look into a gorge reveals the plateau’s complexity.

Val di Non is not only the Trentino capital of apple cultivation; it is a landscape built over time, where agriculture, water, and wood continue to reshape the relationship between community and environment. The challenge of the present is to find a balance between production efficiency and genuine social and environmental sustainability.