Witches' Benches, Chairs of the witches, Sciliar; Tschonstoan and Witches' Woods:
hiking in the Alpe di Siusi in the Dolomites you will step in the footsteps of the legendary witches and other mythical figures of the Dolomites.
The
Sciliar Witches, as still told today, met every Thursday on the Sciliar, the symbol mountain of South Tyrol. They came from everywhere, riding their brooms and forks to participate in their rituals and dances. And to prepare for terrible storms. The Tourist Path leads from Compaccio to the Sciliar Rock where the Sciliar Witches' used to prepare their terrible rites and scare the poor farmers up in the mountains and down in the valley. The north side of the Sciliar rock dwells on various curves. Those who spend the summer on the Alpe di Siusi meet Gentians, Edelweiss and other flowers including the "Sciliar witches" as the Aquilegia einseleana is affectionately called.
Even at the Bullaccia the Sciliar witches have left their traces. At the top of the valley rise the
Witches’ Benches. Here the witches used to relax before going up the Sciliar rock. Even among the hikers the Witches' Benches are very popular. The benches made of porphyry hatch beautiful views of the Gardena Valley and of
Castelrotto. A simple path suitable for all families, on the southern side of the Bullaccia takes you to the Witches' Benches.
A few minutes walk from the mountain station of the Alpe di Siusi aerial cableway in direction Saltria, one encounters the great rock '
Tschonstoan" (Tschonstein): the legendary wizard Kachler Hans, one day in a rage, threw a heavy stone from the Sciliar in the direction of the Alpe di Siusi, on the very same place where you can admire it even today. Those who walk towards Saltria can admire the Tschonstoan, a relic of 15,000 years ago, on their left.
Adventures all around - this is what the tour "
The Witches' Sources" approx. 2 km long promises. The adventure and barefoot trail takes children as well as adults through the "Bosch Curasoa", therapeutic wood – which got this name due to the healing properties of its sources of sulphur. Good witches used to live there and used their magical powers to help both men and animals. The witches left the wood a long time ago, and there remains only the witch Curadina, that guides visitors through it.
Even hiking trails on the slopes of the Sciliar rock that is in Castelrotto show the history of its most famous and most feared inhabitants: In the woods just above Castelrotto you come across the
Witches' Chairs, that is boulders that have the shape of a chair. It could have been a prehistoric site, or a court. As legend recalls, also this place is famous for being a meeting point of the Sciliar Witches.
