Description
The Ladins of the Dolomites are a linguistic minority settled in five valleys branching off from the Sella massif: Fassa in Trentino, Badia and Gardena in Alto Adige/Südtirol, Livinallongo and Ampezzo in Veneto.
Despite their diversity, the idioms represent local varieties of the same language of ancient origin, Ladin, which holds an autonomous position within the framework of the Romance languages.
Dolomitic Ladin, also defined as Central Ladin and spoken today by around 30,000 people, constitutes the central portion of a larger language system that also includes the Swiss Canton of Grisons, where Romansh is spoken, also defined as Western Ladin and spoken today by around 40,000 people, and the Friuli region, with Friulian, also defined as Eastern Ladin and spoken today by over 700,000 people. The three areas represent the residual part of a larger Romance territory that once stretched from the source of the Rhine to the Adriatic, and that was subsequently reduced and fractioned due to migrations of peoples and linguistic influxes from the surrounding areas.
The six municipalities of the Valle di Fassa, namely Moena, Soraga di Fassa/Soraga, San Giovanni di Fassa/Sèn Jan, Mazzin/Mazin, Campitello di Fassa/Ciampedel and Canazei/Cianacei, make up the Comun general de Fascia, the body that has replaced the Comprensorio Ladino di Fassa, in turn heir to the Magnifica Comunità di Fassa, that ancient "Communitas Fasciae" mentioned for the first time in documents as far back as 1253.
Today, the Comun general de Fascia, following the constitutional law number 1 of 4 December 2017 which amended the Statute of Autonomy of the Trentino Alto Adige / Südtirol Region, has acquired the status of local territorial body to which the Region and the Province may attribute, transfer or delegate administrative functions and activities relevant to the enhancement of the Ladin linguistic minority.
Until 1 January 2018, the historical Ladin-Fassa municipalities were seven but, with the entry into force of Regional Law number 8 of 31 October 2017 and the subsequent Constitutional Court ruling number 210 of 2018, the two municipalities of Vich/Vigo and Poza/Pozza merged to form the municipality of San Giovanni di Fassa/Sèn Jan.
Due to the difficult climatic-geographical conditions, the life of the Fassa Ladin people has always been characterised by a pure subsistence economy. Alongside agriculture, an important economic activity was sheep farming, to which cattle breeding was added in a later period.
The poor living conditions drove many Fassa people to seasonal emigration. From the beginning of the 19th century, emigration reached substantial levels at the same time as the development of the activity of the painter-decorator (the pitores). Especially from the poorer villages in the upper valley, legions of 'pitores' emigrated seasonally to the more prosperous regions of central Europe in search of work. Today, the situation has definitely changed, especially thanks to the considerable development of tourism.
Statistical surveys on the Ladin linguistic minority
According to the 2021 census data, 6,066 inhabitants out of a total of 10,393 residents declared themselves as belonging to the Ladin minority in Val di Fassa.
