An age-old union gives voice to the Ladin people
The unification of Rhaetians and Romans lies at the heart of a history that to this day is very much alive in the Dolomites
In the centuries following the inclusion of the Alpine territories into the Roman Empire, the Rhaetians populating the Dolomite regions adopted the Latin of Roman soldiers and officials which then gradually evolved, creating the Ladin language. A language that preserves the Rhaetian consonant shift, the core elements of the local vocabulary as well as the influence of neighbouring languages from both north and south. It is assumed that an earlier unified Ladin belt stretched from the Danube in the north to Lake Garda in the south and from the Gotthard Pass, which connects Switzerland and Italy in the west, to the city of Trieste in the east. During the Migration Period, the advancing of the Alemanni and Bavarians towards the south and the narrowing of the Slavs from the east led to a restriction of the Ladin territory and the assimilation of parts of the Ladin-speaking population.
Today, the Ladin language is spoken at home, at work and it is taught at school
Then as now, Ladin is not merely the symbol of a folk's identity, it is the voice of those inhabiting the valleys of the Dolomites. It is the sound, the chant, the expression which resonates wherever you go, from meadows to forests, from villages to mountain passes, from streams to peaks. The Ladin language is lived in homes, places of encounter and work, and it is taught at school - after all, history cannot exist without culture.
Passed down through the centuries, the Ladin language is more alive than ever
While Ladin was once transmitted from one generation of farmers to the next, it now diffuses also thanks to news channels such as Rai Ladinia with its Ladin news report and the weekly magazine La Usc di Ladins with its digital portal, both of which form the source of a new linguistic vitality.
A language also thrives by means of the places depicting it
There is more than just homes, schools and everyday life. The Ladin language is nurtured and safeguarded in places that know precisely how to preserve, study and disseminate its distinctive identifying principles. The Istitut Ladin Micurá de Rü, the Museum Ladin Ciastel de Tor, the Museum Ladin Ursus ladinicus and les viles are the heartlands of Ladin culture. Places that can be visited, frequented and explored by everyone.
