Ladin tradition and culture in Val Gardena

The core of the Ladin tradition and culture in Val Gardena is the language.
The Ladin language of Val Gardena is closely related with the Ladin of the neighbour valleys Val Badia, Val di Fassa, Livinallongo, Ampezzo (province of Belluno) and has a great similarity with the Romanic language of the Grigioni canton in Switzerland.

Ladin is a Rhaeto-Romanic language. It is the oldest language of the alpine region as it dates back to times after the Romanisation of this area. The language has developed out of the “vulgar Latin” and parts of the regional language.

The migrations have been a major threat for the language which could only survive in a few side valleys and had not been officially recognized for a long time. Today Ladin is besides Italian and German the third official national language in South Tyrol.

The Ladin customs in Val Gardena are a living tradition, because the people stick to their culture and maintain the Ladin language in the school lessons as a compulsory subject. Ladin news in TV, a Ladin radio station and several publications contribute furthermore to the maintenance of the language, tradition and culture in Val Gardena.