Valsugana

The Sugana Valley (Italian: Valsugana,German: Suganertal) is one of the most important valleys in the autonomous province of Trentino in Northern Italy. Leading into the Alps' foothills, an important main north-south Roman road, the Via Claudia Augusta, one of Europe's main roads since its construction in Antiquity, winds along the valley and connects the Adriatic with the historic Holy Roman Empire and Frankish kingdom's centre of Augsburg.

The sturdy construction of this long-distance road running through the valley has made it historically one of the most important north-south European transit lanes because the route from the Veneto region to points near and beyond the famed Brenner pass is significantly shorter than proceeding Venice to Verona to Brenner. Henry II used the road to bypass a position blocked by a rival allowing him to gain the throne of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Valle dei Mocheni is also of historic interest as it has remained a German-speaking enclave in modern Italy to this day. This came about as during the High Middle Ages while the region was ruled by the Holy Roman Empire (many Emperors were also Kings of Italy) many German-speaking farmers and miners settled into the region.

...
Wikipedia