Steeped in legend and a wealth of traditions
With a wealth of customs and traditions, San Cassiano is especially recommended for culture and history buffs.
Despite many eventful centuries, Alta Badia has been able to conserve a large part of its unique characteristics. These include the language, which is probably the most marked legacy of this culture. Still today, the Ladin language, deriving from vulgar Latin, is spoken by around 400,000 people in the Dolomites area. Equally unique, is the preservation of religious rites, popular customs, typical dishes and mystical fables. The Ladin Museum in San Martino in Badia provides good insight into the Ladin living environment and traditions.
Ata Badia, located in the middle of the Dolomites, is associated with numerous legends and fairy-tales. Just 200 years ago, people believed the Dolomites were populated by mysterious beings, natural spirits, heroes and witches. Numerous legends about them have been passed down orally from one generation to the next over the years. They coloured everyday life of Ladins. Good-natured beings protected people, while malicious figures brought disaster and storms. Answers to uncertainties and questions were also quite often sought from these spirits. Still today, many places exhibit the signs originating from this surviving magical world.
