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Franzensfeste

Franzensfeste
Comune
Gemeinde Franzensfeste
Comune di Fortezza
Franzensfeste Fortress and Reservoir
Franzensfeste Fortress and Reservoir
Coat of arms of Franzensfeste
Coat of arms
Franzensfeste is located in Italy
Franzensfeste
Franzensfeste
Location of Franzensfeste in Italy
Coordinates: 46°47′N 11°37′E / 46.783°N 11.617°E / 46.783; 11.617Coordinates: 46°47′N 11°37′E / 46.783°N 11.617°E / 46.783; 11.617
Country Italy
Region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
Province / Metropolitan city South Tyrol
Frazioni Grassstein (Pradisopra), Mittewald (Mezzaselva)
Government
 • Mayor Thomas Klapfer SVP (2015)
Area
 • Total 61.74 km2 (23.84 sq mi)
Elevation 749 m (2,457 ft)
Population (31 December 2013)
 • Total 972
 • Density 16/km2 (41/sq mi)
Demonym(s) German:Festinga
Italian: Fortezzini
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 39045
Dialing code 0472
Website Official website

Franzensfeste (German pronunciation: [ˈfrantsn̩sˌfɛstɛ]; Italian: Fortezza [forˈtettsa]) is a comune in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It is named after the large Franzensfeste Fortress erected from 1833 to 1838 and is also known as an important railway hub.

Franzensfeste is located in the southern Wipptal valley on the Eisack river, about 19 kilometres (12 mi) south of Sterzing and 11 kilometres (7 mi) north of Brixen. The settlement is situated on the western side of the valley, at the Sachsenklemme narrow where it is only a few hundred meters wide, along with the Brenner Railway line and the state road SS12 while the Autostrada A22 (Brenner Highway), running elevated on the same side, pass through the lake in its northern part entering a tunnel on the opposite side; the state road cross than the Eisack river nearby the railway station due north. The valley is confined by the Zillertal Alps in the northeast and the Sarntal Alps in the southwest, rising up to the Tagewaldhorn peak at 2,708 m (8,885 ft).

Franzensfeste was founded recently. The village dates from the 19th century when the construction of the fortifications was begun, to which the site is also closely linked in name (into Italian language), and the railway. The parish was originally Mittewald, still the common land, with the two villages of Oberau and Unterau.

Archeological findings have shown the area to be settled by 2500 B.C. as indicated by the finding of home pottery. The Wipptal has always played an important role in the transit of goods on the north-south bound, first as the Amber Road between Greece, Sicily and Northern Europe later in the Roman period, between Aquileia and the regions beyond the Alps; also a 140-metre (460 ft) long stretch of the Roman Via Claudia Augusta has been unearthed.


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