Moena ( Ladin: ''Moéna'') is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' (municipality) and a village in

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 ...

in the northern

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 ...

region

Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol ( ; ; ), often known in English as Trentino-South Tyrol or by its shorter Italian name Trentino-Alto Adige, is an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy, located in the ...

, located about northeast of

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...

. It is the largest comune in the Fassa Valley. In the census of 2001, 1,967 inhabitants out of 2,602 (75.6%) declared Ladin as their native language.

Geography

Moena lies on the Avisio, a tributary of the

Adige The Adige is the second-longest river in Italy, after the Po. It rises near the Reschen Pass in the Vinschgau in the province of South Tyrol, near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland, and flows through most of northeastern Italy ...

river. The municipality borders with Falcade, Nova Levante, Sèn Jan di Fassa,

Predazzo Predazzo (, literally big meadow) is a village and ''comune'' in the province of Trento, northern Italy. Predazzo is located about 58 kilometres northeast of Trento in Val di Fiemme. It is one of the main centers of Val di Fiemme (the other is C ...

, Soraga and Tonadico. It counts the hamlets (''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') 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 consolidat ...

'') of Forno, Medil, San Pellegrino, Penia, Someda and Sorte.

Main sights

Sights include the church of ''San Vigilio'', with a Gothic bell tower and 18th-century paintings by Valentino Rovisi, and the ancient church of San Volfango, with 15th-century frescoes and a Baroque ceiling by Giovanni Guadagnini (17th century). The festival ''La Turchia'' takes place once a year during the 19th of August until the 21st. According to Turkish tradition, villagers have been celebrating this event, which dates back 323 years. An Ottoman

janissary A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted dur ...

, wounded during the Siege of Vienna in 1683, ended up in Moena and changed the life of the village and became a hero. He fell in love with a local woman and founded a family. In the village center, there is a statue of that janissary.

People

Moena was the home town of Domenico Chiocchetti, who was largely responsible for the decoration of the Italian Chapel in the

Orkney Islands Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was also the birthplace of Renzo Chiocchetti, an Olympic competitor in cross-country skiing.

Twin town – sister city

Moena is twinned with: *

Kirkwall Kirkwall (, , or ; ) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub wi ...

, Great Britain (since 1996)

References

External links