Ćiastel de Tor

Perhaps "castle" is too big a word when one thinks of such giants as the Buonconsiglio in Trento or the Castel Forte/Trostburg at the entrance to the Gardena Valley/Gadertal. In terms of architectural history, it would simply be an isolated residential tower of 13th-century origin, to which two more storeys, a city wall and a smaller building were added later. For the Ladin world of Val Badia, greater in civilisation than in size, this is a castle, full stop.

In addition to being a perfect building and beautifully kept in the greenery, Ćiastel de Tor is also a symbol. In the lower village, the Ladin Cultural Institute functions as a study centre and library, but here one of the first multimedia museums ever opened in Italy has been created from nothing. The vicissitudes of the Ladin people are retold through a series of touch screens and talking pictures where characters from the past, such as the Abbess of the Badia Castle monastery and the bishop-philosopher Nicola Cusano, address visitors directly as they wander through concrete reconstructions of typical mediaeval settings with original furnishings and objects.

The Ladin Museum is an identity landmark both for those who have always lived in Val Badia and for the tens of thousands of residents in the other four Alpine valleys where Ladin is spoken. It is a language handed down from generation to generation, recognised as such today by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen.