Val Gardena (; ; ) is a valley in 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 ...

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 ...

Northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

. It is best known as a tourist

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

rock climbing Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending climbing routes, routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in c ...

, and

woodcarving Wood carving (or woodcarving) is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ...

area.

Geography

The valley's main river is the

Derjon The Derjon (; ; ) is a stream in South Tyrol, 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 M ...

, a tributary of the

Eisack The Eisack (, ; ; or ) is a river in Northern Italy, the second largest river in South Tyrol. Its source is near the Brenner Pass, at an altitude of about 1990 m above sea level. The river draws water from an area of about 4,200 km2. After a ...

river. The mountains that surround the valley are formed by dolomite rocks, which confer on them a characteristic appearance. Most of the steep slopes are covered by pine woods. The favoured cultivations are barley, rye, potatoes, flax, buckwheat. The three municipalities in Val Gardena are

Urtijëi Urtijëi (; ; ) is a town of 4,637 inhabitants in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It occupies the Val Gardena within the Dolomites, a mountain chain that is part of the Alps. Geography Urtijëi borders the following municipalities: Kastelruth, V ...

Sëlva Sëlva (; ; ) is a (municipality) and a village in the Val Gardena in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about east of the city of Bolzano. The Ladin language, Ladin and Italian place names derive from the Latin word ("wood"). History Coat ...

, and Santa Cristina; they were served by the

Val Gardena Railway The Val Gardena Railway or Klausen-Plan (, , ) was a narrow gauge railway operating in the Val Gardena in the Dolomites of northern Italy. It was constructed in 1915/6 when the region was part of the Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, of ...

from 1916 until 1960.

History

The first document about Val Gardena dates back to 993/94–1005: in a tradition note of the

diocese of Freising The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising (, ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Bavaria, Germany.

Culture

Val Gardena is one of five valleys with a majority of Ladin speakers (two of these valleys are in

). The form of the Ladin language spoken in this valley is called ''Gardenese'' in

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

, ''Grödnerisch'' in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and ''Gherdëina'' in Ladin.

Woodcarving

The woodcarving industry has flourished in Val Gardena since the 17th century. Since the 19th century,

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...

s and

altars An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in Christian ...

carved in the area have been shipped to

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

es throughout the world. In the 18th century, besides religious statuettes, the production of woodcarved figurines of genre art was widespread in the valley. Among them statuettes of

beggars Begging (also known in North America as panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars m ...

generally in pairs (female and male), four seasons, watchstands were very popular. In the 19th and 20th century, carving of wooden toys was such a widespread occupation in all Gardenese families that

Amelia Edwards Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards (7 June 1831 – 15 April 1892), also known as Amelia B. Edwards, was an English novelist, journalist, traveller and Egyptologist. Her literary successes included the ghost story ''The Phantom Coach'' (1864), the nov ...

called Urtijëi the "capital of Toyland". One of the valley's best-known products is the

peg wooden doll Peg wooden dolls, also known as Dutch dolls (), are a type of wooden doll from South Tyrol, Italy. They originated as simple lathe-turned dolls from the Val Gardena in the Alps. The name Pennywoods is also used for dolls of this type, in particul ...

which was popular all over Europe and America in the 19th century. In one of her many trips

Margaret Warner Morley Margaret Warner Morley (February 17, 1858, in Montrose, Iowa – December 12, 1923, in Washington, D.C.) was an American educator, biologist, and author of many children's books on nature and biology. Biography Morley grew up in Brooklyn. She ...

went to Europe to Val Gardena where she was inspired to write the novel ''Donkey John of the toy valley''. The

Parish Church of Urtijëi A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

displays a rich collection of statues carved by local artists in the last two centuries. The

Museum Gherdëina The Gherdëina Local Heritage Museum was opened in the ''Cësa di Ladins'' in Urtijëi, in northernmost Italy, in 1960. The building is the seat of the Union di Ladins de Gherdëina a cultural organisation for the keeping of the Ladin language ...

in Urtijëi owns a rich collection of historical wooden toys, and woodcarved statues and

figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cla ...

Sports

Skiing

The valley hosted the

FIS Alpine World Ski Championships The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships is an alpine skiing competition organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). History The inaugural world championships in alpine skiing were held in 1931. It consisted of Downhill (ski competition), ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. Val Gardena is home to the ''Saslong Classic'', a men's

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

downhill race that has been held almost every year since

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

. Since

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

(and in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

), the downhill has been paired with a

Super-G Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event ...

race, and from 1979 to 1982 a combined event was held. The Saslong course is considered one of the five "classic" men's downhill races, along with

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; ) is an Northern Limestone Alps, Alpine mountain resort, ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district), district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ...

's Kandahar ( GER),

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a town rights, medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbüh ...

Hahnenkamm Hahnenkamm (means "comb (anatomy), comb") may refer to *Hahnenkamm (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft), a federation of municipalities in Bavaria, Germany *Hahnenkamm, Greenland, a mountain in the Stauning Alps, Greenland *Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel, a mountain ...

(

AUT AUT may refer to the following. Locations *Austria (ISO 3166-1 country code) *Agongointo-Zoungoudo Underground Town, Benin * Aktio–Preveza Undersea Tunnel, Greece *Airstrip on Atauro Island, East Timor (IATA airport code) Organizations *Arri ...

Wengen Wengen () is a mountain village in the Bernese Oberland of central Switzerland. Located in the canton of Bern at an elevation of above sea level, it is part of the Jungfrauregion and has approximately 1,300 year-round residents, which swells t ...

Lauberhorn The Lauberhorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, located between Wengen and Grindelwald, north of the Kleine Scheidegg. Its summit is at an elevation of above sea level. Lauberhorn ski races The mountain is best known for th ...

( SUI), and

Val-d'Isère Val-d'Isère (, literally ''Valley of Isère (river), Isère'') is a Communes of France, commune of the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie Departments of France, department (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region) in southeastern France. It ...

's Criterium (

FRA Fra is a title of a friar. Fra or FRA may also refer to: Codes * fra, the ISO 639-2 code for the French language * FRA, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code for France * FRA, the IOC country code for France at the Olympics * Framingham station, Amtra ...

). It is well known for the "Camel Humps" (or "Bumps"), a series of three small jumps which racers must negotiate in quick succession. Two men have won the Saslong title four times in a career: Austrian

Franz Klammer Franz Klammer (born 3 December 1953) is a former champion alpine ski racer from Austria. He dominated the downhill event for four consecutive World Cup seasons (1975– 78). He was the gold medalist at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, ...

(1975, two races in 1976, and 1982) and Italy's

Kristian Ghedina Kristian Ghedina (; born 20 November 1969) is an Italian alpine skiing coach and former competitive racer. His 13 victories are the second most by an Italian downhill (ski competition), downhill specialist in World Cup history: the first is Dom ...

(1996, 1998, 1999, and 2001). If Super-G wins are also included, two other men have matched that feat: Peter Müller of Switzerland and Austrian

Michael Walchhofer Michael Walchhofer (born 28 April 1975) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Austria. Biography Walchhofer was born in Radstadt, Salzburg, Austria, and started his career in slalom, but then moved over to the speed events. During his c ...

. A women's slalom and parallel slalom were also held in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. Val Gardena is part of the

Sella Ronda The Sellaronda is the ski circuit around the Sella group in the Dolomites mountains of Northern Italy. The Sella massif lies between the four Ladin valleys of Badia, Gardena, Fascia, and Fodom and is divided between the provinces of South ...

alpine

ski touring Ski touring is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas. Touring is typically done off-piste and outside of ski resorts, and may extend over a period of more than one day. It is similar to backcountry skiing but excludes the ...

circuit.

Other sports

The

Gardena Spring Trophy The Egna Spring Trophy (formerly the Gardena Spring Trophy) is an annual international figure skating competition which is generally held every spring in Val Gardena in Italy. Medals may be awarded in men's singles, women's singles, and pair skat ...

is an annual international figure skating competition held every spring in the Valley. Val Gardena has a

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team, the Hockey Club Gardena.

Notable residents

Carolina Kostner Carolina Kostner (born 8 February 1987) is an Italian figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics, 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2012 World Figure Skating Championships, 2012 World champion, a five-time European Figu ...

, figure skater *

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 ...

, ski-champion *

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 ...

, record producer, songwriter, performer and DJ *

Josef Moroder-Lusenberg Josef Theodor Moroder, also known as the Lusenberger, (28 May 1846 in Urtijëi – 16 February 1939 in Urtijëi) was a painter and sculptor, the most prominent artist of the Moroder family from the Grödenthal in South Tyrol (now the Val Gardena ...

, painter

General sources

. ''Untrodden peaks and unfrequented valleys. A midsummer ramble in the Dolomites.'' Longman's, Green and Co. London 1873. *

. ''Donkey John of the toy valley''. Chicago A. C. McClurg & Co. 1909.

Citations

External links

{{Authority control Ladinia Valleys of South Tyrol Ski areas and resorts in Italy