Borgo Malanotte holds between its houses centuries of history of the area; it consists of a main villa (Villa Dirce) flanked by those who were once the servants` and peasants` houses who cultivated the lands of the villa with a landowner agreement first and then with sharecropping. On the other side of the villa there is a small churc called Oratorio John the Baptist, in honor of the first family member Malanotte who purchase the existing village. The first historical data about it are in fact within the village itself from a stone showing the date 1654, the year in which John the Baptist Malanotti settled permanently in Venice. Later, in 1670, he bought the village which was known in that period as "Campagnola of Soffratta" and gave him the name of their family, which over the years changed and became Malanotte. The name of the place is particularly evocative (it means “bad night”) and has given way over the centuries in various folk tales about its origin; accessing various historical archives in modern times it is able to trace with certainty to an event occurring in Trentino, handed down over the centuries by oral tradition popular, which led to the first name of the family, ie "Malanotti" (“bad nights”).

 

Airplane photo
An airplane snapshot of the village made in occasion of "Cose dei tempi antichi"; you can see the "Oratorio" (small church) and the Villa on the left, while on the right you can see the old servants houses; nowadays this houses have been refurbished and are inhabited by several families
Malanotte Village
A photo of the modern refurbished village

 

The event was commonly called "the night of the bear" and tells the story of a hunter in the woods of Trentino spent a whole night in a tree to escape the repeated and persistent attacks of a ferocious bear. The incident took place in a area near of the country Caldés in Val di Sole, where the Malanotti name appeared for the first time.

 

"Tieda" Malanotte Village 1/2
The "tieda", where in the middleage horses where changed for the passing merchant
"Tieda" Malanotte Village 2/2
The "tieda" was also used as a medieval postal office
Capitello Borgo Malanotte
A "capitello" which has been built in front of an old First World War bunker; this bunker is nowadays still abled to be visited

 

The village has always been an important meeting place for travelers and merchants going to and from Venice as it was close to the ford of Lovadina which in turn was connected with the Trentina way, dating back to Roman times and which was renamed in 1800 Column way (Via Colonna), which is also the modern name. This has been for centuries the only sure road that connected the Venetian Republic and inland and Borgo Malanotte had the role of a real medieval “station”, where passers-by could stop and rest and refresh or change horses before resume the journey. Nowadays the villa became a famouse restaurant and the old servants´ houses, which over the years have been expanded and renovated, are now homes for several families in the area.