History of Glorenza

Beyond the name, poetic and of rustic flavour, Glorenza is a real City-Fortress, with a rectangular plan, surrounded by walls of great magnificence, which reaches about seven feet tall and nearly two thick. The area was fiercely fought over in the Middle Ages between the powerful family of the Matsch and the Bishopric of Coira; moreover, the Bishop of Coira, in the thirteenth century, built two castles, the "Fürstemburg" and "Castel Coira" near Glurns.

The history of Glurns is probably of pre-Roman origins and it was originally inhabited by Illyrian people; then Drusus (38-9 BC) conquered the territory in 15 BC. For nearly three centuries, from the beginning of the thirteenth century to the late fifteenth century, the history of Glurns was that of disputes between the Counts of Tyrol and the Bishops of Coira.

The city's place was important as a market for transit to the Grisons, soon becoming the economic capital and the military stronghold of the Valley. In 1499 the city suffered heavy destruction by the Swiss confederates, who inflicted a heavy defeat to the emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg (1459-1519). The war, which ended a few months later with the Peace of Basle, and sanctioned the independence of Switzerland, led to the separation of Grisons from Empire and it led the interruption of trade between Tyrol and Engadina, which passed through Glurns. Risen between 1555 and 1580 with the construction of the present walls, the city continued its thriving business based on the exchange of goods, which were stored in special rooms overlooking the “Laubengasse” or “Via dei Portici”. Glurns retains intact its medieval urban structure, with seven towers, three gates and a massive wall that surrounds it completely, and today its economy is based primarily on tourism.

Etymology

The city appears first documented around 1294, as “Burgum Glurns” (See Reiner Lose, “Der Vinschgau und seine Nachbarräume”, Athesia Verlagsanstalt, 1993, p. 29). As Regards the etymology, certainly a valid interpretation is that proposed by S. Marseiler (“Glorenza-Glurns, the Smallest Town in Alto Adige”, Lana, Tappeiner, 1998). Marseiler notes that Glorenza was called “[…] ‘Glurnis’, ‘Glurne’, ‘Glurens’; the origin of the name is pre-Roman or retro-romance and it would mean ‘flood bed of the alders or hazels’ […]”. Moreover, it was noted the similarity with the city name of "Glori," the meaning of which should be derived from a possible Greek root “Koris” (“verdant”) or, more likely, from the Latin “Corylus” (“hazel”), indicating that once the area was rich in hazels. (See. A. Gandolfo, “Glori”, in “The Province of Imperia”, Blu Editions, 2005).

Indeed, it appears that the name “Glorenza” ( “Glurns” in German) probably comes from the Virgilian “colurnus”, a variant of the Latin word “Corylus” ( “hazel”). In 1991 was published a nice article on the popular "L’Espresso" (Vol. 37, numbers 9-17, p. 213) where, quite simply, it was said that in the name on approval “[...] we understand how a name, from the Latin, is understood in Italian and German ('Glorenza'-'Glurns'): in Latin is a Virgilian term "colurnus", adjective of hazel and alder, and it includes the meaning of ‘close to water’. Indeed, the place of "Colorno" on the Po River is the most direct subsidiary of this etymology [...]”. In short, according to studies mentioned above, the meaning of "Glorenza-Glurns" should be the "city near a river full of hazels."