The Ladins are an ethnolinguistic group of 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 ...

. They are distributed in several valleys, collectively known as

Ladinia Ladinia is a neologism used to describe an Alpine region in the Dolomites mountain range of Northern Italy, divided between the Italian provinces of Belluno, South Tyrol, and Trentino. The area takes its name from its inhabitants, the Ladin peo ...

. These valleys include the valleys of Badia and Gherdëina 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 ...

, of

Fassa The Fassa Valley ( Ladin: ''Fascia'', , ) is a valley in the Dolomites in Trentino, northern Italy. The valley composes an administrative valley community (Italian: ''Comunità di valle'', German: ''Talgemeinschaft'') of Trentino, known as Fascia ...

Trentino Trentino (), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento (; ; ), is an Autonomous province#Italy, autonomous province of Italy in the Northern Italy, country's far north. Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the Regions of Italy, region of Tren ...

, and of Livinallongo (also known as Buchenstein or Fodom) and

Ampezzo Ampezzo (; ) is a (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Udine in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about northwest of Udine. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of ...

Belluno Belluno (; ; ) is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Located about north of Venice, Belluno is the Capital (political), capital of the province of Belluno and the most important city in the Eastern Dolomites region. W ...

. Their native language is Ladin, a

Rhaeto-Romance Rhaeto-Romance, Rheto-Romance, Rhaeto-Italian, or Rhaetian, is a purported subfamily of the Romance languages that is spoken in south-eastern Switzerland and north-eastern Italy. The name "Rhaeto-Romance" refers to the former Roman province of ...

language related to the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

Romansh and Friulian languages. Ladinia is located in the historical region of

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

, and Ladins share that region's culture, history, traditions, environment and architecture. Ladins developed a formal national 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. 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 Bo ...

in the South Tyrolean municipality of

San Martin de Tor San Martin de Tor ( ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about northeast of the city of Bolzano. Geography As of 30 November 2010, it had a population of 1,726 and an area of .All demographic ...

. 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 (, 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 Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ...

, Cesa de Jan in

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 Cadore (; ; or, rarely, ''Cadòria''; or ''Kadober''; Sappada German: ''Kadour'';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 and about north of Belluno Belluno (; ; ) is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Ita ...

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

Communities

Gallery

File:LadinGehöfte.jpg, Ladin farms in La Val File:SanktMartinSchloß.JPG, Castle Thurn,

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 Maria Canins (born 4 July 1949, in La Villa, Alta Badia) is an Italian racing cyclist who twice won the Tour de France Féminin in 1985 and 1986, as well as winning the inaugural Giro d'Italia Femminile in 1988. She rode for Italy at the 1984 and ...

, Cyclist (twice winner of the

Tour de France Féminin Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

), cross-country skier (15-time national champion) and mountain runner. * Nadia Delago, professional alpine skier, 2022 Olympic bronze medalist. *

Nicol Delago Nicol Delago (born 5 January 1996) is an Italian World Cup alpine ski racer, and specializes in the speed events. She represented Italy at two Winter Olympics, and made her first World Cup podium in Italy She is the sister of Nadia Dela ...

, professional alpine skier *

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 ...

, singer, songwriter, DJ and record producer *

Ettore Sottsass Ettore Sottsass (; 14 September 1917 – 31 December 2007) was an Italian architect and product designer. He was known for his designs of furniture, jewelry, glass, lighting, homeware and office supplies. He also worked on numerous buildings an ...

, photographer, architect and designer *

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, 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, 2012 World champion, and five-time European champion. * Simon Kostner, ice hockey player, represented the Italian national team 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 language, Serbo-Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: ; ) and commonly known as Sarajevo '84 (Serbian Cy ...

. *

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 ...

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 ...

alpine ski racer whose thirteen victories are the most by an Italian downhill specialist in World Cup history. * Simona Senoner, 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. ...

, 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