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Ladinia
The Ladin valleys are very rich in traditions and customs that recall ancient times. The majority of these are linked with nature and with the work done on the fields. The course of the year was timed by traditions; customs brought rhythm into life and its most important moments. The cultural heritage concerning traditions seems to be a sort of calendar that marks the culminating moments of the Ladin population. Especially the life of the farmers and the craftsmen is full of hints that reveal the elements which once defined the peculiarity of the Ladin population and its culture. Even if the arrival of tourism cancelled a great part of this heritage, it was possible to maintain and transmit to the living generations a good part of that popular and traditional knowledge which characterises this mountain community.
For example, the value of faith which is strongly rooted in the Dolomite valleys was transmitted from generation to generation. And also many traditions were transmitted together with this value. For example, every year, the last Sunday in September, there is an encounter of all Ladins in Pietralba, a place of pilgrimage. Another example is a tradition which is particularly practised in Val Badia (sometimes other valleys join in) and this is a pilgrimage to Sabiona made every three years. If these two are the most renowned processions, there are also many smaller ones that take place regularly in each valley at different points of time. Next to processions there are also other moments that distinguish the life of the Ladin population. The period of the Advent and Christmas, for instance, (with the custom of preparing the Advent wreath, the crib or the Christmas tree) or the Easter period (with the olive boughs, the colourful Easter eggs and the blessed baskets) which certainly represent the most important events in the year. But also in summer and in autumn there are several little signs that allow to remember the customs that the ancestors practised. In August, at the Feast of the Assumption, for instance, women bring a bunch of flowers to church to have it blessed. This is meant to be an act to thank God in the middle of summer. Or on All Hallows’ Day there is the tradition of bringing a horse or a hen made of sweet bread to the godchildren. Not only the solar year was marked by various traditions, also the people’s life is marked by several traditions linked with faith. One of the most interesting moments is the wedding: especially in ancient times this was seen as one of the best occasions to recall popular characteristics which should bring good luck to the young couple. Every element had a particular meaning: the clothes, the accessories that were used and the behaviour, all were hints for the relationship that the invited had with the bride and the groom. The wedding day had a very precise timetable which was very carefully planned from the morning to the moment of going to sleep. Nowadays many of these elements have been lost (there are only very little who prepare the typical pancakes the day when the wedding is announced, only very few get up at six o’clock and pray the rosary together with the mother and exactly as few prepare the “false” bride before handing over the right one to the groom’s witness). The wedding has remained, though, one of the most splendid moments. There are little sketches about the couple’s life or the tradition of “selling” a goat without horns to older siblings of the married couple who are not married.
Even if religion and the Church are the most important cornerstones of Ladin culture, there are also various traditions that are linked with everyday life. Especially farmers follow the rules of popular wisdom: behind the simple ritual of cutting the grass, the cultivation and the cattle breeding there is a world full of knowledge that has allowed the people of the Ladin valleys to create their own cultural world.
The most pleasant moments, such as the fairs are also loaded with symbols: for example the many typical sweets of each village, or the rituals between boys and girls (in autumn, for example, there is the interesting tradition to give pears to the girls as a present, whereas the girls have to return this gesture with Easter eggs).
However, the most genuine tradition that is still maintained today is certainly that of the children going singing from door to door on December 31st to wish a Happy New Year.