The Ladins are an ethnolinguistic group in northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. They are distributed in several valleys, collectively known as

Ladinia Ladinia ( lld, Ladinia) is neologism used to describe an Alpine countries, Alpine region in the Dolomites mountain range of Northern Italy, divided between the Italian provinces of Belluno, South Tyrol, and Trento. The area takes its name from ...

. These include the valleys of Badia and

Gherdëina Val Gardena (; german: Gröden ; lld, Gherdëina ) is a valley in Northern Italy, in the Dolomites of South Tyrol. It is best known as a tourist skiing, rock climbing, and woodcarving area. Geography The valley's main river is the Derjon, a ...

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

, of

Fassa The Fassa Valley (Ladin: ''Fascia'', it, Val di Fassa, german: Fassatal) is a valley in the Dolomites in Trentino, northern Italy. As an administrative valley community (Italian: ''Comunità di valle'', German: ''Talgemeinschaft'') of Trentino, it ...

in the

Trentino Trentino ( lld, Trentin), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento, is an autonomous province of Italy, in the country's far north. The Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, an autonomous region ...

, and Livinallongo (also known as Buchenstein or Fodom) and Ampezzo in the

Province of Belluno The Province of Belluno ( it, Provincia di Belluno; de-AT, Provinz Belluno; lld, Provinzia de Belum) is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Belluno. It has an area of and a total population of about 205,000. ...

. Their native language is

Ladin Ladin may refer to: * Ladin language, a language in northern Italy, often classified as a Rhaeto-Romance language *Ladin people, the inhabitants of the Dolomite Alps region of northern Italy See also *Laden (disambiguation) * Ladino (disambigua ...

, a Rhaeto-Romance language related to the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

Romansh and Friulian languages. They are part of

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, with which they share culture, history, traditions, environment, and architecture. Ladins developed a national ethnic identity in the 19th century.

Micurà de Rü Micurà de Rü, born Nikolaus Bacher (San Cassiano, Badia, December 4, 1789 – Wilten, March 29, 1847), was an Austrian Ladin-speaking Catholic presbyter and linguist best known for his writings on the Ladin language. Biography He was born as ...

undertook the first attempt to develop a written form of the Ladin language. Nowadays, Ladin culture is promoted by the government-sponsored cultural institute

Istitut Ladin Micurà de Rü The Istitut Ladin Micurà de Rü is a government-financed cultural institute in South Tyrol, Italy, tasked with preserving and promoting the Ladin language and culture. Foundation and name The institute was set up by the Autonomous Province Bol ...

in the South Tyrolean municipality of San Martin de Tor. There is also a Ladin museum in the same municipality. The Ladins of Trentino and Belluno have their own cultural institutes, Majon de Fascegn in

Vigo di Fassa Vigo di Fassa ( lld, Vich de Fascia, german: Wiegen im Fasstal or ''Vig im Fasstal'') is a ''frazione'' of Sèn Jan di Fassa in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about northeast of Trento. In the ...

Cesa de Jan Cesa is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about north of Naples and about southwest of Caserta. Cesa borders the following municipalities: Aversa, Gricignano di Aversa, Sant'Antimo ...

Colle Santa Lucia Colle Santa Lucia (; Ladin language: ''Col'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Belluno in the Italian region of Veneto, located about north of Venice and about northwest of Belluno. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of ...

, and

Istituto Ladin de la Dolomites Bellunese Institution to study and preserve the Ladin culture in 35 municipalities of Agordino, Cadore, Comelico Comelico ( lld, Cumélgu, ''Comélgu'' or ''Comélgo''; Sappada German: ''Komèlk'';Borca di Cadore Borca di Cadore is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Belluno in the Italian region of Veneto, located about north of Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of t ...

. The Ladin people constitute only 4.53% of the population of South Tyrol. Many of the

South Tyrolean Sagas South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

come from the Ladin territory, including the

national epic A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation—not necessarily a nation state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group with as ...

of the Ladin people, the saga of the

Kingdom of Fanes The Kingdom of Fanes ( lld, Rëgn de Fanes) is the national epic of the Ladin people in the Dolomites and the most important part of the Ladin literature. Originally an epic cycle, today it is known through the work of Karl Felix Wolff in 1932 ...

. Another figure from Ladin mythology is the demon Anguana.

Communities

Gallery

File:LadinGehöfte.jpg, Ladin farms in

La Val La Val ( it, La Valle ; german: Wengen ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about northeast of the city of Bolzano. Geography As of 30 November 2010, it had a population of 1,307 and an area ...

File:SanktMartinSchloß.JPG, Castle Thurn, San Martin de Tor in the 1960s File:TavellaLunz60er.jpg, Tavella and Lunz in La Val in the 1960s. File:PflügerWengen60.jpg, Ploughing in La Val in the 1960s.

Notable people

* Maria Canins, Cyclist (twice winner of the Tour de France Féminin), cross-country skier (15-time national champion) and mountain runner. * Nicol Delago, professional alpine skier *

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance mu ...

, singer, songwriter, DJ and record producer * Ettore Sottsass, photographer, architect and designer * Carolina Kostner, figure skater, 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, 2012 World champion, and five-time European champion. * Simon Kostner, ice hockey player, represented the

Italian national team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

in several tournaments. * Erwin Kostner, ice hockey player, competed in the men's tournament at the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...

. * Kristian Ghedina, World Cup alpine ski racer whose thirteen victories are the most by an Italian

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

specialist in World Cup history. *

Simona Senoner Simona Senoner (13 June 1993 – 7 January 2011) was an Italian Cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country racer and Ski jumping, ski jumper. Biography Senoner was born in Bolzano, in the province of South Tyrol, and lived in Santa Cristina Ghe ...

, cross-country racer and ski jumper *

Peter Runggaldier Peter Runggaldier (born 29 December 1968 in Brixen and living in Sëlva, South Tyrol) is an Italian former Alpine skier, who specialized in downhill and super-G disciplines. He competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics and the 1998 Winter Olympics. B ...

, professional Alpine skier

References

External links

Istitut Cultural Ladin Micurà de Rü
(in South Tyrol), official site
Istitut Cultural Ladin Majon di Fascegn
(in Trentino), official site
Istitut Cultural Ladin Cesa de Jan
(in Belluno province), official site {{Authority control Ladin people Ethnic groups in Italy Romance peoples South Tyrol

Communities

Gallery

Notable people

See also

Further reading

References

External links