Getting the Royal Treatment in Italy’s Rovereto

Start counting the storybook castles that sprinkle the hillsides on both sides of the Adige River near here and one begins to realize how fiercely the valley linking Austria’s Tyrolean Alps and Italy’s magnificent Verona, and incredibly rich Po Valley beyond, has been fought over since Roman times.

The Republic of Venice took charge of this area for a century in 1416, giving Rovereto its cultural, architectural and dialectal foundation. Walk the narrow and serpentine streets of Rovereto today and feel the kinship with those of Venice, including the occasional happy sounds of Venice’s almost incomprehensible Catalan-based dialect.

Just about everyone took a shot at running this beautiful and very silk-rich town, from Austria’s Hapsburgs to Napolean to the Hapsburgs again. It was finally wrested, along with much of Northern Italy, from Austria and returned to Italy at the end of World War I.

Through it all, the people of Rovereto remained steadfast in their Italian allegiance and customs, disdaining for the most part the Teutonic food and folkways that still hang on nearer the Austrian border. This didn’t prevent them from extending a warm welcome to the young Mozart, who gave his first Italian concerts in the town and helped set the taproot for a rich cultural milieu that still pervades year-round.

So why hasn’t Rovereto gained the acclaim and popularity of Tuscany’s hill towns or the world-renowned resorts along the Ligurian and Adriatic coasts? Perhaps it’s Rovereto’s location off the autostrada that links the region with Brenner Pass and the Austrian border. Whatever, do yourself the distinct favor of a few days in this golden and very becoming town, one of the truly unsung glories of Northern Italy.

How long/how much? Give Rovereto two days, another day or two for sojourns into the mountains. If possible, time a visit for Tuesday’s weekly market, one of the largest and most colorful we’ve seen in all of Italy. Lodging costs here are moderate for today’s Italy, dining the same.

Getting settled in: Hotel Rialto is a delightful little mid-town place, owned and run by the Baldessari family for the past 68 years. A handsome stained-glass entry door leads into the small lobby, which is a tasteful mix of warm woods, Oriental rugs, antiques and fresh flowers.

Rialto also has a beautiful lounge, again filled with deep, rich furniture and flowers, plus a great little bar. Bedrooms are bright and of moderate size, the dining room a very pretty setting.

Hotel Rovereto, near the Rialto in Old Town, is another small and convenient place that caught our fancy. It’s an old townhouse that has been a hotel since 1889, and is a bit more formal than Rialto. Some of the neat and comfortable bedrooms are done in “Old Vienna” style, and all have mini-bars and TV. The dining room is considered one of the town’s very best.

For those who would like to visit or stay in nearby Lake Garda (15 miles west), without the hassle of the overcrowded and very touristy town of Riva del Garda at the lake’s head, the small Lake Tenno a few miles above Riva is a sylvan setting with spectacular views. Hotel Lago di Tenno is a chalet-like building just above the lake, surrounded by mountain greenery.

The chalet feeling extends into a homey Italo-Tyrolean lobby with lots of magazines and a lived-in ambience. Bedrooms are contemporary, with cool pastel colors, lots of built-ins and some with private balconies for sunning. Outside, the flowery grounds are like those of a small country club, with three day-and-night clay tennis courts, two pools, putting greens and bocci court. The dining room and terrace are something special.

Regional food and drink: Nothing really jumps out at you as a typical Trentino dish, although the gnocchetti (small potato dumplings) do date to the 16th Century, and a local green sauce of basil, marjoram, parsley and olive oil is used on vegetables, meat or for dipping bread. Northern Italy’s polenta (a fine cornmeal mush) is always at hand, and is great when cut into flat bars and fried with meats and game.

This is wine country, and the Trentino reds and whites are a delight. Try Rovereto’s Foianeghe Cabernet or Pinot Grigio, both marvelous. And Riva’s Lega Antianalcoolica claims to make the mother of all grappas, a rather harsh and strong drink that takes some getting used to--and, after too much, getting over.

Good local dining: Ristorante Novecento in Hotel Rovereto is a simple yet charming room with paneled and frescoed walls, red flowers in copper pots on each table and a terrace outside for dining under an awning in pleasant weather.

Try starting with the chef’s fegato alla casa (liver pate, $9.50), then maybe a pasta alla Fausto (with a peppery basil and tomato sauce, $6.50) or risotto with wild mushrooms, $9.50. Main dishes include saltimbocca alla romana (thin veal escalloped with Marsala wine and ham, $11), plus another dozen selections of trout, salmon, beef and turkey.

Da Paolo (Via Orefici 17), a trattoria at town center, is a place to warm your heart. Walk past a cart full of flowers into an inner courtyard, where one may dine under a grape arbor. Paolo’s specialty is polenta, which one may have with wild mushrooms, rabbit, venison and mushrooms or three other versions, all in the $9 range. The antipasti plate is $6 and bountiful.

Mama Giosi, the much-acclaimed restaurant of Hotel Lago di Tenno, backed up its reputation by serving us a glorious luncheon on an awning-covered terrace with roses and geraniums clinging to the walls. Terra-cotta wine and water carafes share space on each table with lovely flowers picked from the hotel grounds, all contributing to a very festive air. The inside dining rooms are warm, intimate and also bedecked with flowers and vines.

One of Mama’s specialties is her green sauce, described above, served with chunks of fresh vegetables for $5.50. Main dishes of grilled fresh trout, lamb with polenta and mushrooms or sliced chateaubriand with a sauce of tomatoes, basil and leeks are all priced at $16.

On your own: Few will have time to visit all the castles of the valley, but please don’t miss Castel Beseno, the region’s largest and dominating them all from a redoubtable hilltop. The walk to the top is equally formidable, but worth it for the majesty of this 1,000-year-old fortress.

By all means visit the Fortunato Depero Museum, dedicated to and designed within by the Rovereto native son and futurist painter-designer. Depero’s paintings and tapestries have achieved worldwide fame for the breathtaking brilliance of their colors. Don’t miss it.

The Foianeghe wine people have a tasting room at the vineyard just outside town, and everyone is welcome to come in, taste and perhaps buy a few bottles for future picnics.

Nearby Lake Garda is Italy’s largest, strikingly beautiful and indeed worthy of a visit, except the east coast during July-August when there’s hardly room to breathe. Otherwise, the little wine village of Bardolino and other engaging hamlets along the lakeside make pleasant stopping points for a relaxing lunch beside the water after the short drive from Rovereto.

GUIDEBOOK

Rovereto, Italy

Getting there: Fly Alitalia to Rome and then to Verona. An advance-purchase, round-trip ticket from LAX will cost about $1,043. Take a train for the 46-mile trip on to Rovereto for $6. Or call Italian State Railways at (213) 338-8620 between 9 a.m. and noon for information and costs of the Italian Rail Pass for travel throughout the country.

A few fast facts: The Italian lira recently sold for 1,243 to the dollar, or .0008 cents each.

Where to stay: Hotel Rialto (Via Carducci 13; $85-$100 double B&B;); Hotel Rovereto (Corso Rosmini 82; $88-$111 double B&B;); Hotel Lago di Tenno (Lago di Tenno; $72-$80 B&B; double).

For more information: Call the Italian Government Travel Office at (415) 392-6206 between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., or write to 360 Post St., Suite 801, San Francisco 94108.