Lake Santo and the Potzmauer Alpine Refuge

Circular itinerary connecting Lake Santo di Cembra with Potzmauer Refuge, through woods and wide views over the Adige valley

<p>The path connects Lake Santo, a splendid glacier-origin lake, to the Potzmauer alpine refuge, located at 1300 m and immersed in a basin of meadows surrounded by fir woods.</p> <p>Lake Santo owes its name to a suggestive legend: it is said that once, where the lake now lies, there was land disputed fiercely among heirs, so much so that one of them, exasperated, wished it would become a lake. From that moment the water began to rise. The inhabitants of Cembra, worried about the impending danger, went on a pilgrimage to the land and when the parish priest threw the Madonna’s ring into it, the water calmed down.</p> <p>The Potzmauer Refuge was once a mountain farm, abandoned with the disappearance of livestock in the valley. It was bought by the Municipality of Grumes (now part of Atavalle Municipality), which renovated it and gave it new life. Today the refuge is a rest point both for meals and overnight stays and also a midpoint for possible longer excursions towards other interesting places such as the peat bogs of Lac del Vedes or Lago di Valda.</p>