Lauben (Via dei Portici)

The Lauben, also known as Via dei Portici, is Bolzano's medieval trading street, stretching roughly 300 metres with covered arcades running along both sides. Behind the narrow façades, the buildings extend deep into the block — a legacy of the days when merchants from the south and north kept their goods, warehouses and living quarters here. Today the ground floors are lined with shops, and the street is at its finest in rain or snow, when the entire stretch can be walked beneath the vaulted arches.