Resia ( Resian: ; ; ) is a (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Udine, in the

Friuli-Venezia Giulia Friuli-Venezia Giulia () is one of the 20 regions of Italy and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The regional capital is Trieste on the Gulf of Trieste, a bay of the Adriatic Sea. Friuli-Venezia Giulia has an area of and a ...

region of northeast

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 ...

, bordering on the municipalities of Chiusaforte, Lusevera, Resiutta, and Venzone, and also on two of the

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n municipalities ( Kobarid and Bovec). Its residents speak an archaic dialect known as Resian, which is – according to most linguists – a transitional dialect between the Carinthian and

Littoral The littoral zone, also called litoral or nearshore, is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely i ...

dialects of Slovene. Although they maintain their own traditional system of family names, which are of Slavic origin, the people of Resia have either Italian or Italianized surnames, similarly to some areas in Venetian Slovenia. It is located in the alpine valley of the same name in the

Julian Alps The Julian Alps (, , , , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretches from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large part of the Julian Alps is inclu ...

, about northwest of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

and about north of

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

, on the border with

and around from the border with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. As of 1 January 2015, it had a population of 1,048 and an area of .All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute Istat.

Geographical location

The municipality comprises the Resia Valley, a typical Alpine glacial valley, surrounded by high mountains of the

, with a narrow opening towards the west. The valley is located on the western edge of a high

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

of the Julian Alps. To the east, it is closed by the Kanin mountain group also of the Julian Alps, which separates it from the

Soča Soča (, in Slovene) or Isonzo (, in Italian; other names: ; ; or ') is a long river that flows through western Slovenia () and northeastern Italy (). An Alpine river in character, its source lies in the Trenta Valley in the Julian Alps ...

valley in the

Slovenian Littoral The Slovene Littoral, or simply Littoral (, ; ; ), is one of the traditional regions of Slovenia. The littoral in its name – for a coastal-adjacent area – recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg poss ...

. To the west, the valley opens towards the Fella valley, which leads to the upper

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

an plain. This is the most usual way to access this isolated valley. To the south-east of the Resia Valley, there is a narrow mountain pass, called Carnizza (), leading from Resia Valley to the upper Torre Valley (). The same mountain pass also leads to the Učja Canyon (Uccea), which ends in the

valley near the Slovenian village of Žaga. For centuries, this narrow pass was the only way connecting the Resia Valley with Venetian Slovenia and the Slovene Lands.

Language and traditions

Resia San Giorgio carneval music 03022008 78

The inhabitants of Resia speak a unique dialect, known as the Resian. According to the dialectologist Tine Logar, Resian is a transitory dialect between the Carinthian and

dialects of Slovene. Resian maintains several archaic features that have been lost in most other

Slovene dialects In a purely dialectological sense, Slovene dialects ( , ) are the regionally diverse varieties that evolved from old Slovene, a South Slavic language of which the standardized modern version is Standard Slovene. This also includes several di ...

. Due to its isolation, the dialect has also developed a specific phonetic system, unlike any other in the South Slavic language group. In 1994, the linguist Han Steenwijk published the

orthography An orthography is a set of convention (norm), conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, punctuation, Word#Word boundaries, word boundaries, capitalization, hyphenation, and Emphasis (typography), emphasis. Most national ...

of the Resian, in 1999 the first part of its reference grammar, and in 2005 a small orthographic dictionary. The people of Resia have conflicting opinions on whether they consider themselves

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, and History of Slove ...

although they maintain close cultural, economic and family connections with the people of the historical region known as Slavia Friulana, where Slovene linguistic and cultural identity is much more rooted. The Resians call their dialect ''rozajanski'', while they frequently refer to the dialect of Bovec, which is the first large Slovene settlement on the other side of the Kanin mountain range, as ''tabuški'', meaning 'the one from Bovec'. Since 2007, the Resia has been included in those municipalities where the Law on the Protection of the Slovene Linguistic Community is to be applied. Many bilingual signs have been erected in the valley since the early 2000s. The Resian people are known for their rich folkloric traditions, especially their music and dances. Many

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

and

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

groups, such as Katalena and Terrafolk, have drawn their inspiration from the Resian folk tradition. Resian folklore is also renowned for its

fable Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a parti ...

s, which have been extensively collected, translated into standard Slovene and published in various Slovenian publications since the late 19th century.

Cultural associations

Since the 1990s, several cultural institutions have been set up to promote the historical and cultural heritage of the valley. The most important is the Cultural Association 'Resian Home' (''Te kultürski čirkolo "Rozajanski Dum"'', Italian: ''Circolo culturale resiano "Rozajanski dum"'', standard Slovene: ''Kulturno društvo "Rezijanski dom"''), founded in 1983 to foster and protect the local culture. In the 1990s, the 'Resian Cultural Centre' (''Ta Rozajanska Kultürska Hïša'', Italian: ''Centro Culturale Resiano'', standard Slovene: ''Rezijanski kulturni dom'') was established as the central cultural venue in the valley. Both associations are fully included in the network of cultural associations of the

Slovene minority in Italy Slovene minority in Italy (, ), also known as Slovenes in Italy (, ) is the name given to Italy, Italian citizens who belong to the autochthonous Slovenes, Slovene ethnic and linguistic minority living in the Italian autonomous region of Friuli-V ...

Identity disputes and minority rights

The political and public sphere in the valley is highly divided between those who understand the Resian identity in the frame of the

, and those who oppose this identification and refuse to be considered part of the

Slovene people The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( ), are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, culture, and history, and speak Slovene as their native lan ...

. While the majority of the Resian cultural associations are integrated in the network of the Slovene minority in Italy, there are also political movements rejecting the identification of Resians with Slovenes. The majority of the population does not consider itself Slovene. In 2004, 1,014 out of 1,285 (78.9%) inhabitants of Resia signed a petition declaring that they are not Slovenes. In January 2009 the mayor of the Resia municipality, Sergio Barbarino, who is not a Resian, filed an official demand that Resia be included among the municipalities in which the Italian–Slovene bilingualism is applied. The subsequent mayor Sergio Chinese – himself a native of Resia – declared that "Resia and the Resians have nothing in common with the Slovenes" and that the Resian language "has nothing to do with Slovene". He requested that Resia be removed from the list of municipalities where Italian–Slovene bilingualism is applied. In February 2010, the new municipal administration of Resia replaced the bilingual Italian–Resian road signs with new ones, in which the Resian place names were written in the

Italian orthography Italian orthography (the conventions used in writing Italian) uses the Latin alphabet to write the Italian language. This article focuses on the writing of Standard Italian, based historically on the Florentine variety of Tuscan. Written It ...

instead of the scholarly accepted New Resian orthography. The Slovenian Foreign Ministry denounced the incident and brought it to the attention of the

international community The international community is a term used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world. Usage Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is typically used to imply the ...

as an evidence of the institutional subversion of

minority rights Minority rights are the normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or gender and sexual minorities, and also the collective rights accorded to any minority group. Civil-rights movements oft ...

in Italy. In March 2010, the Italian Ministry of Interior confirmed that Resia is to be considered part of the bilingual Italian-Slovene territory and that linguistic rights guaranteed by the Italian Act for the Protection of the Slovene Minority are to be fully applied in Resia. In August 2010, the municipal assembly of Resia asked for the removal of Resia from the list of municipalities, in which the Law for the Protection of the Slovene Linguistic Community is enforced. However, such removal is not possible according to the law.

Demographic evolution

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Twin towns

Resia is twinned with: *

Fryazino Fryazino ( rus, Фрязино, p=ˈfrʲæzʲɪnə) is a naukograd, scientific types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Lyuboseyevka River, a tributary of the Vorya (Klyazma), Vorya, northeast of th ...

, Russia

Notable natives and residents

Jan Niecisław Baudouin de Courtenay Jan Niecisław Ignacy Baudouin de Courtenay, also Ivan Alexandrovich Baudouin de Courtenay (; 13 March 1845 – 3 November 1929), was a Polish linguist and Slavist, best known for his theory of the phoneme and phonetic alternations. For most ...

, Polish linguist, who lived in Resia studying the

Resian dialect The Resian dialect or simply Resian (self-designation Standard , Bila , Osoanë , Solbica ; , ; ) is a distinct variety in the South Slavic continuum, generally considered a Slovene dialect spoken in the Resia Valley, Province of Udine, Italy, ...

References

External links

Municipality website (in Italian and Resian)

www.resianet.org

The song 'Lipa ma Mariza', one of the main cultural symbols of the valley

Folk music from Resia

Resian folk song

Resian folk song
{{DEFAULTSORT:Resia (Ud) Cities and towns in Friuli-Venezia Giulia Cities and towns in the Julian Alps Valleys of the Julian Alps Valleys of Friuli-Venezia Giulia Culture of Slovenia