Valtellina: Difference between revisions

'''Valtellina''' or the '''Valtelline''' (occasionally spelled as two words in English: '''Val Telline'''; {{lang-rm|Vuclina}} <small>({{Audio|Roh-putèr-Vuclina.ogg|listen|help=no}})</small>; {{lang-lmo|Valtelina}} or {{lang|lmo|Valtulina}}; {{lang-de|link=no|Veltlin}}; {{lang-it|Valtellina}}) is a valley in the [[Lombardy]] region of northern [[Italy]], bordering [[Switzerland]]. Today it is known for its [[ski centercentre]], [[hot spring]] spas, [[bresaola]], [[cheese]]scheeses (in particular [[Bitto]], named after the river Bitto) and [[wine]]swines. In past centuries it was a key [[Alps|Alpine]] pass between northern Italy and [[Germany]]. The control of the Valtellina was much sought after, particularly during the [[Thirty Years' War]] as it was an important part of the [[Spanish Road]].

The most important [[comune]] of the valley is [[Sondrio]]; the others major centerscentres are [[Aprica]], [[Morbegno]], [[Tirano]], [[Bormio]] and [[Livigno]]. Although Livigno is on the northern side of the alpine [[water divide|watershed]], it is considered part of Valtellina as it falls within the [[province of Sondrio]].

The region was conquered in 16 BC by the [[Roman Empire|Romans]]. By the 5th century, it was [[Christianization|Christianized]] with around ten [[pieve]] (rural churches with a [[baptistery]]) under the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Como|Diocese of Como]]. The [[Lombards]] gained control over the area after 720, but about fifty years later [[Charlemagne]] gave the valley to [[Basilica of St Denis|Saint Denis Monastery]] near [[Paris]]. Later the valley returned to the Bishop of Como.<ref name=HDS_Val>{{HDS|7135|Valtellina}}</ref>

During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the Valtellina belonged to the [[Three Leagues]] (the "Grey Leagues"), which was then a mutual-defensedefence region independent of Switzerland but is now the easternmost [[Cantons of Switzerland|Swiss Canton]] of [[Graubünden]]. Graubünden is an area in which [[German language|German]], [[Romansh language|Romansh]], [[Lombard language|Lombard]] and [[Italian language|Italian]] are all spoken, and hence during 16th -century rule by Graubünden, the region became known variously as ''Veltlin'', ''Westtirol'' (West [[County of Tyrol|Tyrol]]), and the ''Welsche Vogteien'' ("Romanic Bailiwicks").

During the [[Thirty Years' War]], the Valtellina was a theatertheatre of intense military and diplomatic struggle among [[France]], the [[Habsburg]] powers and the local authorities which culminated in the Valtellina war of 1620–1626. Control over the routes through the Valtellina to the passes between Lombardy and the Danube watershed was at stake as it formed part of the so-called [[Spanish Road]]. The anti-Habsburg forces in the [[Three Leagues]] put together a court named 'clerical overseers' that between 1618 and 1620 handed down a number of convictions (often ''[[trial in absentia|in absentia]]'') against Catholics in the Leagues and Valtellina.<ref name=Religious>[http://www.gr.kath.ch/ressourcen/download/20080529163237.pdf Graubünden's religious history]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (PDF; 3.95&nbsp;MB) {{in lang|de}}</ref> This included the arresting under false pretensespretences and torturing to death of the (catholic) arch-priest [[Nicolò Rusca]] of [[Sondrio]]. This and similar harsh judgments of the anti-Habsburg [[Thusis]] court led to a conspiracy to drive the Protestants out of the valley. The leader of the conspiracy, Giacomo Robustelli of the Planta family, had ties to Madrid, Rome and Paris. On the evening of 18/19 July 1620, a force of Valtellina rebels supported by Austrian and Italian troops marched into [[Tirano]] and began killing Protestants. When they finished in Tirano, they marched to [[Teglio]], [[Sondrio]] and further down the valley killing every Protestant that they found. Between 500<ref name=History>[http://www.geschichte-schweiz.ch/reformation.html Swiss History] {{in lang|de}} accessed 16 January 2012</ref> and 600<ref name=HDS_Valtellina>{{HDS|24652|Valtellina murders}}</ref> people were killed on that night and in the following four days. The attack drove nearly all the Protestants out of the valley, prevented further Protestant incursions and took the Valtellina out of the [[Three Leagues]]. The killings in Valtellina were part of the conflicts in Graubünden known as the ''[[Bündner Wirren]]'' or Confusion of the Leagues.

In February 1623 [[France]], [[Savoy]], and [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] signed the [[Treaty of Paris (1623)|Treaty of Paris]] in which all three signatories agreed to re-establish the territory of Valtellina by attempting to remove Spanish forces stationed there.

In 1797 the growing power of the [[First French Republic]] created the [[Cisalpine republicRepublic]] in Northern Italy. On 10 October 1797, the French supported a revolt in the Valtellina against the [[Graubünden]] (''Grisons'' in French and English), and it joined the [[Cisalpine Republic]].

After the [[Congress of Vienna]] in 1815, the Valtellina became part of the [[Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia]], which was a constituent land of the Austrian Empire. In 1859 it came, together with Lombardy, to the [[Kingdom of Sardinia]], and finally in 1861 it became part of the [[Kingdom of Italy]].

At the end of the 19th century, there was substantial migration out of the Valtellina for reasons of the prevailing economically depressed conditions of the region and for young men to avoid [[conscription]].<ref name=Genoni>Paull, John (2014) [http://jorganics.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/1170.pdf "Ernesto Genoni: Australia’s pioneer of biodynamic agriculture"], Journal of Organics, 1(1):57-8157–81.</ref> [[Australia]], especially [[Western Australia]], was a popular destination for such migrants.<ref name=Genoni/>

Industrially, the area is famous as the home of the world's first mainline [[Railway electrification system|electrified railway]]. The electrification of the [[Ferrovia della Valtellina]] took place in 1902, using [[three-phase]] power at 3,600&nbsp;V, with a maximum speed of 70&nbsp;km/h. The system was designed by the brilliant Hungarian engineer [[Kálmán Kandó]] who was employed by the main contractors the [[Budapest]]-based [[Ganz]] company.

The official language is Italian, but the [[:it:Dialetto valtellinese|Valtellinese variety]] of the [[Lombard Language]] is also spoken.

=== ''L'è foeu el sginer'' &and ''l'è foeu l'ors de la tana'' ===

On [[New31 Year's Eve|January 31st]] there was the tradition of ''l'è foeu el sginer'' ("January's out"), a custom very similar to that celebrated on February 2 February known as ''l'è foeu l'ors de la tana'' ("the bear is out from its den"). Both celebrated the end of winter and the imminent arrival of spring. The two customs involved walking around the town and inviting people to leave their househouses under any pretext, like throwing a large piece of wood or a pot down the stairs. When people ran outside to check what had happened, they were greeted with the shout ''l'è foeu el sginer!'' or ''l'è foeu l'ors de la tana!''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Calendario di Valtellina e Valchiavenna -– 2 febbraio |url=http://www.paesidivaltellina.it/calendario/0202.htm |website=Paesi di Valtellina e Valchiavenna}}</ref>

''Intraverser l'èn'' or ''intraverser l'ann'' (literally "to put the year across") also celebrated [[New Year's Eve]]: during the night young people used to build [[barricade]]s of gates, [[door]]s, benches, agricultural tools, logs, stairs, sledges, and carts in the main [[Town square|square]] or in front of the church, to prevent the old year from leaving. The next morning, the owners of the stolen objects had to go and recover them, dismantling the barricade and metaphorically opening up the way to the new year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Calendario di Valtellina e Valchiavenna -– 31 dicembre |url=http://www.paesidivaltellina.it/calendario/3112.htm |website=Paesi di Valtellina e Valchiavenna}}</ref>

On January 6 January, the custom of the ''gabinat'' is still celebrated today, especially in [[Tirano]], in the Upper Valley, and in the nearby [[Val Poschiavo|Poschiavo Valley]] ([[Switzerland]]). Traditionally, children would suddenly enter other people's homes shouting ''gabinat!'' and in exchange, they would receive a handful of cooked chestnuts, some sweets or dried fruit. The adults competed to precede the other in exclaiming ''gabinat'' when they met. Whoever lost had to pay a pledge; often, the prize at stake was established in advance and the gabinat thus became the object of bets. In order toTo win, various strategies were adopted: stalking, disguises, fake illnesses ... Nowadays, it is only the children who do the ''gabinat'', and they usually show up to relatives, friends, and local shopkeepers.

The custom of the ''gabinat'' most likely comes from [[Bavaria]], [[Germany]], where [[Christmas]], [[New Year's Eve]] and [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]] were indicated with the name Geb-nacht (''Gaben'' means "gifts" and ''Nacht'' means "night", therefore "night of gifts"): on the eve of these holidays, the poor young people sang in front of the doors of the wealthiest in the hope to receive a gift.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Antonioli |first1=Gabriele |title=Dizionario etimologico grosino |last2=Bracchi |first2=Remo |publisher=Ramponi Arti Grafiche |year=1995 |location=Sondrio}}</ref>

On the first of March, throughout Valtellina and [[Valchiavenna]], people used to go to ''ciamà l'erba'' ("call the grass"). The children walked in the meadows making noise with [[cowbell]]s to call the grass and awaken it from theits winter slumber.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Calendario di Valtellina e Valchiavenna -– 1 marzo |url=http://www.paesidivaltellina.it/calendario/0103.htm |website=Paesi di Valtellina e Valchiavenna}}</ref> This custom also served to propitiate a bountiful harvest.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Associazione Amatia |title=Mazzo tra storia, tradizione e leggenda |publisher=Tipografia Bettini |year=2013 |location=Sondrio}}</ref>

In the village of [[Grosio]], the [[Carnival]] is celebrated, unlike the rest of Valtellina, on the first Sunday of [[Lent]], according to the [[Julian calendar|Ambrosian calendar]] in force before the [[Gregorian Reform|Gregorian reform]]. For this reason, it is called ''Carneval vegg'' ("Old Carnival").

Nowadays, the districts of the towns challenge each other to the sound of allegorical floats, and the parade is attended by traditional masks, eight characters representing traditions, past events, and moments of everyday life: the Old Carnival, a bearded and joyful man dressed as a mountaineer, and Lean Lent, a thin woman dressed in a humble way, with a dark handkerchief on her head and an empty basket on her arm, represent the transition from the glories of Carnival to Lenten fasts. They are accompanied by the Paralytic, the Bear Handler, a funny shepherd who dances and rolls on the ground named Toni, an old man with thea butt covered with Nutella, a hunchbacked mountaineer whose hump is filled with chestnut urchins, and Bernarda, a man disguised as a baby put in a pannier supported by a fake old woman, and accompanied by another man dressed as a farmer).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Antonioli |first1=Gabriele |title=Grosio. Cinquemila anni di storia |last2=Ghilotti |first2=Paolo |last3=Mambretti |first3=Ivan |last4=Rinaldi |first4=Giacomo |publisher=Tipografia Poletti |year=2018 |location=Villa di Tirano}}</ref>

In [[Bormio]], during the day of the Carnival of the Fools, the [[Mayor]] hands over his power to the ''Podestà di Mat'' ([[Podestà]] of the Fools) to [[Harlequin]], and to the ''Compagnia di Mat'' ("the Company of the Fools") who give a public reading of the gossip and complaints that citizens have deposited in a box placed in the square of the Kuerc. The festival also includes a parade along the streets of the historic centre led by the Harlequins of the Company of Mat, with children escorting the Podestà.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Carnevàl di Mat |url=https://www.valtellina.it/it/eventi/bormio/carneval-di-mat |website=Valtellina.it}}</ref>

[[File:W_il_1930.jpg|thumb|250x250px|"Cheers to the year 1930" written on one of the doors of [[Mazzo di Valtellina]].]]

The [[conscription]] was originally a celebration on the occasion of the call to the draft: the tradition seems to have originated in the second half of the [[19th century|nineteenth century]] with the [[unification of Italy]] when young men were forced to serve a period in the [[Army]]. The feast of the conscripts of eighteen-year-olds was therefore a kind of [[rite of passage]] to adulthood. Today is simply the celebration of the [[coming of age]].

The feast of the conscripts is particularly felt in Alta Valtellina: in Grosio, for a week, the conscripts meet in a club to celebrate and travel through the streets of the town in a car from which the flag decorated with the symbol of the group waves. On New Year's Eve, amid [[fireworks]] and the noise of whistles, [[cowbell]]s, [[motorcycle]]smotorcycles, and [[tractor]]s, they entrust the flag to conscripts one year younger, after having it blessed in church.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Celebrato l'anno dei coscritti del 2001 |url=https://primalavaltellina.it/cronaca/celebrato-lanno-dei-coscritti-del-2001/ |website=Prima la Valtellina.it|date=6 January 2020 }}</ref> Each group chooses different coloured sweatshirts and decorates the tricolour with a [[symbol]] that represents the group's motto or identity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Coscritti sì, ma responsabili. Dopo la festa fanno pulizia |url=https://www.laprovinciadisondrio.it/stories/Cronaca/coscritti-si-ma-responsabili-dopo-la-festa-fanno-pulizia_1099604_11/ |website=La Provincia di Sondrio.it|date=15 January 2015 }}</ref>

The ''Pasquali'' are allegorical floats with a religious theme, prepared during the winter by the various districts of Bormio (Buglio, Combo, Dossiglio, Dossorovina and Maggiore) for [[Easter]] (Pasqua meaning Easter in [[Italian language|Italian]]). On Easter day, the Pasquali are carried on the shoulders of the boys and are accompanied by a band, folk groups, women, seniors, and children who embellish the parade with flowers and other small crafts. Everyone wears the traditional red, black and white costume. After having followed the entire Via Roma and upon arrival at the Piazza del Kuerc (the main square of the town) the ancient bell called Bajona starts tolling and a jury draws up a ranking of the best Pasquali. At the end of the parade, the floats are exhibited in Piazza del Kuerc where they stay until Easter Monday.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pasqua a Bormio? In compagnia dei Pasquali! |url=https://www.bormio.eu/it/i-pasquali |website=Bormio.eu|date=10 May 2021 }}</ref>

In the lower part of the [[Val Poschiavo]], the valley in the Graubünden canton of [[Switzerland]] that descends into the Valtellina at [[Tirano]], similar wines are produced -– but under different regulations such as [[appellation]] and the allowance of [[sugar]] addition, or [[chaptalization]].

One of the most notable tourist attractions of the area is the [[Bernina railway|Bernina Line]] (“Trenino"Trenino Rosso”Rosso", little red train) of the [[Rhaetian Railway]], which links the town of [[Tirano]] in the Valtellina with [[St. Moritz]] in Graubünden, Switzerland via the [[Bernina Pass]]. The mountains of the Valtellina offer numerous possibilities for sports activities: skiing and winter sports in [[Bormio]], [[Aprica]] or [[Livigno]], hiking and biking in the same locations and especially in the secondary valleys, and rock climbing in the [[Val Masino]].