LAND, MAN AND ANIMALS
Description
Man has lived for thousands of years in the valleys of the
High Tauern. The clearings on the edge of the woodland are grazed by cattle in the summer. What is unusual about the protected area of the Hohe Tauern National Park is that it contains not only natural landscapes, but also rural landscapes; a perfect symbiosis between wild nature and the everyday work of the country folk. This mix is also common in other parts of the
East Tyrol, such as the
Oberstaller Farm [1] in the delightful
Villgraten Valley, where you can find intact a whole village of malghe, or mountain huts, 16 of them in total. Mentioned for the first time as far back as 1675, today the huts are a popular, easy-to-reach hillwalking destination. The
Malga Unterstaller, at the bottom of the
Villgraten Valley, could be the starting point for a brief hike; in the
Villgraten Valley you can also visit the
Zacheler Stadl Farm Equipment Museum and the
Malga Kamelisen, close to many mountain farms.
Between the Villgraten Valley and the Casies Valley, three paths have been marked out and restored, with panels explaining and illustrating traditional habits and customs, smuggling, and farming activities respectively. The third route also illustrates how the malghe are exploited, how the mountain grass is cut and how the mountain dairy farmers and shepherds live. The activity of the malghe is also very important in the province of Belluno, where they are often the best place to find delicious craft-produced cheeses. Until the 1950s, the cows were taken up to the middle-altitude pastures in April, and it was not until mid-June (usually the 13th, San Antonio) that they were driven up to the high mountain pastures, where they remained until the beginning of September. Visitors interested in these traditions, the customs of the country folk, traditional trades and the difficulties of life in the mountains can find out more in any one of the many museums in the province of Belluno. The Ethnographical Museum of the Province of Belluno and of the Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park in Seravella di Cesiomaggiore [2] covers a number of key questions regarding mountain life: adaptation to the geography of the area, resistance to the cold, emigration and Man’s relationships with the environment and with animals. [R.D.N.]
by the way
In the province of
Belluno there are a number of ethnographical museums which deal specifically with popular culture. You might like to visit the V. Del Fabbro Exhibition of Tools and Objects from the Past in Cavarzano, just outside Belluno city centre; admire carefully-made scale models of transport in the mountains in the Museum of Alpine Culture in Padola di Comelico Superiore; take a look at the photographs, furniture and other objects on display in the Giuseppe Fontana Ethnographical Museum in Sappada; find out how milk, wood, and iron products, and domestic and working tools were made in the Museum of Popular Traditions in San Vito di Cadore; or learn about local crafts in the Val Goima Museum of Traditions and Customs in Zoldo Alto. In the East Tyrol, you can visit the Kammerlanderhof in Thurn, the museum in the famous farmhouse; the Late-Gothic style building has been declared a national monument and is a symbol of the popular culture of the East Tyrol. You can visit the old kitchen with the typical wood-burning stove, the dining room, the small bedroom and the granary. In the loft an exhibition has been set up illustrating the craft activities of the country folk, with original farming tools on display.
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