Urtijëi (; ; ) is a town of 4,637 inhabitants in

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

in northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It occupies the

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

within the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( ), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Va ...

, a mountain chain that is part of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

Geography

Urtijëi borders the following municipalities: Kastelruth, Villnöß, Lajen, and Santa Cristina Gherdëina.

History

The Ladin-language name Urtijëi derives from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word and the

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

'','' with the meaning "place of nettles". From 1860 to 1914, Urtijëi experienced a relevant economic growth due to the opening of a major road connecting Val Gardena to the main railroad; as a result the local woodcarving industry flourished. International tourism developed through the discovery of the Dolomites first by English tourists, and subsequently visitors from other parts of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

as well as the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. Currently, the town's

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

is mostly based on winter skiing tourism, summer

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

tourism, and woodcarving.

Coat of arms

The emblem shows Saint Ulrich, with the bishop's vestments and a gold cross in his right hand, mounted on a horse, with gold harness and a blue saddle pad, on three green mountains on a gold field. The emblem is decorated with a blue chief, with three small silver shields alternating with two golden bees; the bees symbolize the laboriousness of the inhabitants. The coat of arms was granted in 1907 and reappointed in 1970. Blazon: '' Or, St Ulrich in bishops vestments with a cross Or in right hand, mounted on a white horse Proper with harness of the field and a

saddle blanket The terms saddle blanket, saddle pad (or numnah), and saddle cloth refer to blankets, pads or fabrics inserted under a saddle. These are usually used to absorb sweat, cushion the saddle, and protect the horse's back. There are lighter types ...

Azure on a

trimount In heraldry, a mount (also mountain, hill, hillock) is a representation of a hill or mountain as a curved terrace in base. When the mount is included in the lower part of the shield, it may be considered an ordinary rather than a charge. A trimo ...

Vert Vert or Verts may refer to: * Vert (heraldry), the colour green in heraldry * Vert (music producer) (born 1972), pseudonym of Adam Butler, an English music producer * Vert (river), in southern France * Vert (sport), a competition in extreme versio ...

; On a chief Azure, two bees Or between three escutcheons

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 ...

.''

Main sights

* Parish Church of Urtijëi, made in

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

with

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

elements in the last part of the 18th century. * Church of St. Jacob, of ancient foundation, it was remodeled in style Late-Gothic style during the 17th century. It preserves

frescoes Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

from the second half of the 15th century and copies of the original baroque furnishings. * Church of St. Antonius, built in the second half of the 17th century, it combines the simple Renaissance style structure with a predominantly baroque decorative structure. * Church of St. Anna, located in the perimeter of the municipal cemetery, it is in Late-Gothic style. Inside it preserves baroque furnishings. * Museum Gherdëina, the local heritage museum, which preserves geological, paleontological and archaeological finds found in the area, as well as a collection of wooden sculptures and toys. * The

Luis Trenker Luis Trenker (born Alois Franz Trenker, 4 October 1892 – 12 April 1990) was a South Tyrolean film producer, director, writer, actor, architect, alpinist, and bobsledder. Biography Early life Alois Franz Trenker was born on 4 October 1892 in ...

House of Culture, housed in a building designed by the architect Hubert Prachensky (1916–2009), preserves the ancient bell of the Magister Manfredinus. * The bronze statue of the

Roman legionary The ancient Rome, Roman legionary (in Latin ''legionarius''; : ''legionarii'') was a citizen soldier of the Roman army. These soldiers would conquer and defend the territories of ancient Rome during the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Republic and ...

, sculpted in wood in 1904 by Johann Baptist Moroder and fused in bronze in 2001, in front at Villa Venezia. * Villa Venezia, home and workshop of the sculptor Johann Baptist Moroder, constructed between 1902 and 1903 following the venetian style of architecture. File:Roman legionary Ortisei.jpg,

sculpted in wood in 1904 by Johann Baptist Moroder and fused in bronze in 2001. File:Dlieja da Sacun cun Saslonch-edit.jpg, Church of St. Jacob File:Resciesa Mont Dedite y Danter la Montes Urtijei.jpg, The pasture Resciesa

Society

According to the 2011 census, 84.19% of the population speaks Ladin, 9.30% German, and 6.51% Italian as first language.

Notable people

Franz Moroder-Lenert by Josef Moroder-Lusenberg

(1892–1990), film producer, director, writer, actor, architect, alpinist and bobsledder * Ernesto Prinoth (1923–1981), racing driver and founder of Prinoth AG *

Isolde Kostner Isolde Kostner (born 20 March 1975) is an Italian former Alpine skiing, Alpine skier who won two bronze medals at the 1994 Winter Olympics, 1994 Winter Olympics and a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics, 2002 Winter Olympics. She was the It ...

(born 1975), former Alpine skier, medallist at the

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

* Carolina Kostner (born 1987), figure skater, lives in Urtijëi ;Moroder family * Josef Moroder-Lusenberg (1846–1939), painter and sculptor * Franz Moroder (1847–1920), politician and poet, the first mayor of Ortisei * Johann Baptist Moroder (1870–1932), sculptor * Rudolf Moroder-Lenèrt (1877–1914), sculptor specializing in religious art * Ludwig Moroder (1879–1953), sculptor and teacher * Friedrich (Rico) Moroder (1880–1937), sculptor * Adele Moroder (1887–1966), author and

Ladin language Ladin ( , ; autonym: ; ; ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Rhaeto-Romance languages, Rhaeto-Romance subgroup, mainly spoken in the Dolomites, Dolomite Mountains in Northern Italy in the provinces of South Tyrol, Trentino, an ...

writer * Otto Moroder (1894–1977), sculptor * David Moroder (1931–1997), luger and sculptor *

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

(born 1940), singer, songwriter, DJ and record producer IMDb Database
retrieved 14 June 2019 * Egon Rusina Moroder (born 1949), painter and illustrator, lives in Ortisei

References

External links

Official website
( Ladin)
Museum Gherdëina - Local heritage museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urtijei Municipalities of South Tyrol