Despair and blind fury, the love of the fatherland and a great deal of courage during the period of the battles for Tyrolean freedom brought forth a good many heroes. Peter Sigmayr, the innkeeper, was one of them. And his home village of Valdaora-Olang honored him with a monument: as a six meter (twenty foot) high sandstone man, he stands there day after day throughout every kind of weather and confidently looks out over the land as in days of yore.
The Lippa Sawmill is another trademark of Valdaora. It is the last Venetian sawmill that is still maintained, a unique testimony to the history of the timber industry in the Val Pusteria-Pustertal valley.
The Steinmeile [“Stone trail”] thematic path features stone blocks from the most varied of areas in South Tyrol-Südtirol. Information plaques tell each individual story. These are Valdaora’s paths for experiencing, learning, and just simply lingering.
But in sacred and architectural areas, Valdaora also offers views into its past: the Bad Bergfall springs, the old lime kilns, the pointy tower of the Chiesetta Kappler-Kappler Stöckl chapel, or the parish church in Valdaora di Sopra-Oberolang are cultural treasures that may possibly only astonish visitors upon their second look. But they are certainly worthwhile to discover in detail.
