Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LADIN LANDS
According to one Val Gardena local in her 20s, to be Ladin is 'just a way of feeling…I've grown up
speaking the language; I don't feel Italian, or South Tyrolean, I feel Ladin.' She is but one of 20,000
first-language Ladin speakers, almost half are the Val Gardena, the others spread across valleys in the
neighbouring Val Badia and Val di Fassa as well as Arabba and Ampezzo near Cortina in the Veneto.
Children in these valleys are taught in Ladin, alongside German and Italian, and the Ladin cultural
and linguistic identity is enshrined in EU law. The culture is underpinned by vibrant poetry as well as
legends peopled by the good-natured
salvan
(a Dolomiti cousin of the gnome) and a further pantheon
of fairies, giants and heroes. Encounter these folk traditions at various valley museums:
Museo Ladin
(
0474 52 40 20;
www.museumladin.it
; Tor 65, St Martin de Tor; adult/reduced €8/
6.50;
10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 2-6pm Sun summer, 3-7pm Thu-Sat winter)
Museo Ladin de Fascia
( 0462 76 01 82;
www.istladin.net
; Località S. Giovanni, Vigo di Fassa;
adult/reduced €5/3; 10am-12.30 & 3-7pm summer, 3-7pm winter)
Museum de Gherdëina
(
Click here
)
Bressanone (Brixen)
Alto Adige's oldest city, dating to 901, might be the picture of small town calm, but has a
grand ecclesiastical past and a lively, cultured side today. Stunning baroque architecture is
set against a beguiling Alpine backdrop, a stately piazza leads into a tight medieval core,
and pretty paths trace the fast-moving Isarco river.
Sights
MUSEUM
Museo Diocesano
( 0472 83 05 05;
www.hofburg.it
;
Piazza Palazzo Vescovile 2; adult/reduced €7/6; 10am-5pm Tue-
Sun, summer & Dec
-
early Jan )
This museum is far more interesting than most of its ilk, its
magnificent palazzo home testament to the town's once-important religious standing; it's
popular when the Christmas Market crowds arrive, due to its extensive 'crib' collection -
nativity figures and dioramas.
Sleeping
Hotel Elephant
HISTORIC HOTEL
€€
