Upper Venosta Valley is one of the most important stages of the Stairways to Heaven project, also called the Romanesque Road, which leads from Switzerland through South Tyrol to Trento. Here can be found important churches and monasteries from the Carolingian era to the High Middle Ages. The history of these sacred buildings with their fresco cycles and bestiaries is unique.

Treasures such as St. Benedikt in Malles/Mals and St.Veith on the Tarces hill, St. Johann in Tures/Taufers, St. Nikolaus at Burgusio/Burgeis or St. Stefan near Marienberg Abbey reach back to the Early Middle Ages, between the 8th and 12th centuries. They survived the wars of the times. St. Pankratius and the oldest chapel of St. Jakob in Tyrol near Glorenza/Glurns with significant Romanesque wall paintings date back to the 13th century. It is worth seeing St. Leonhard in Laudes/Laatsch with its precious winged altar.

Great excursions lead to Marienberg Abbey above Burgusio, to the nearby Swiss monastery of St. Johann in Val Müstair, which is part of the UNESCO world cultural heritage, and to St. Prokulus in Naturno/Naturns, whose frescoes date to the 8th century, and is complimented by a new museum.