PHOTOGRAPH: GETTY IMAGES
48 HOURS
The spiritual energy of alpine witches pulsates on the plateau. We fall silent at the marvel: a fairy tale-scape of pine woods, acute summits and cerulean sky, and a hundred mysterious cairns, like midget infantry defending the Sarntal Alps. ‘Barbara was the last witch of our village to be burned,’ hotelier Gregor Wenter whispers, ‘because the church feared her knowledge and power, but we don’t know the purpose of the Stone Men.’