Laives (; german: Leifers ) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' (municipality) in

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

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 ...

, located about south of the city of

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

. It is one of only five mainly Italian speaking municipalities in South Tyrol, and the fourth largest municipality in the province.

Geography

As of November 30, 2010, it had a population of 17,168 and an area of .

Subdivisions

The municipality contains four urban centers: *Laives (Leifers) *Pineta (Steinmannwald) *San Giacomo (St. Jakob) *La Costa (Seit) Laives is the seat of the town hall, Pineta and San Giacomo are two ''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' (hamlets), while La Costa is - according to the municipal statute - a ''

località A ''località'' is an inhabited place in Italy that is not accorded a more significant distinction in administrative law such as a ''frazione'', ''comune'', ''municipio'', ''circoscrizione'', or ''quartiere''. The word is cognate to English ''loc ...

'' (inhabited locality), but it is often referred to as a ''frazione'' also in the official documentation. The

Brantental The Brantental, also Brandental, is a valley in South Tyrol, Italy, stretching from Laives to Deutschnofen Deutschnofen (; it, Nova Ponente ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about southeas ...

valley connects it with

Deutschnofen Deutschnofen (; it, Nova Ponente ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about southeast of the city of Bolzano. Deutschnofen borders the following municipalities: Aldein, Bolzano, Bronzolo, Ka ...

History

Coat-of-arms

The emblem consists of an

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

pile, with concave sides on azure and a chapel on a mountain of

gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). In engraving, it is sometimes depict ...

. The sign, similar to that of the Counts of ''Lichtenstein'' who lived in the castle on Mount ''Köfele'', represents the church of ''Peterköfele''. The emblem was adopted in 1970.Heraldry of the World: Laives
/ref>

Society

Linguistic distribution

According to the 2011 census, 71.50% of the population speak

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, 27.99%

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and 0.51%

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 ...

as first language.

Culture

The '' carnival of Laives'' is one of the most important

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

s of Trentino-South Tyrol. The city is also the headquarters of the ''

Coro Monti Pallidi The Coro Monti Pallidi is an Italian all-men a cappella chorus from Laives (Italy). History The choir was founded in Auer, South Tyrol in 1967 by a group of music student, conducted by the ''maestro'' Sergio Maccagnan; the first headquarters ...

'', an all-man a capella chorus founded in 1967 by

Sergio Maccagnan Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass * ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film * ''Se ...

and conducted since 2004 by

Paolo Maccagnan Paolo Maccagnan (Bolzano, June 19, 1968) is an Italian choral conductor. Son of the choir conductor Sergio Maccagnan, he studied as pianist at conservatory of music of Bolzano and Riva del Garda. In 1998 he began conducting a first youth choir ...

Notable people

Reinhard Dallinger Reinhard Dallinger (born 2 April 1950 in Laives, South Tyrol) is an Austrian zoologist and professor of zoology and ecotoxicology at the University of Innsbruck (retired since 1 October 2017). He works in the field of biochemistry and physiology ...

(born 1950 in Laives) a retired zoologist and Professor of

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

and

ecotoxicology Ecotoxicology is the study of the effects of toxic chemicals on biological organisms, especially at the population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecotoxicology is a multidisciplinary field, which integrates toxicology and ecology ...

References

External links

Official website
Municipalities of South Tyrol {{TrentinoAltoAdige-geo-stub