Sentiero delle Leggende Ladine (Trail of Ladin Legends)
Winding through the spruce woods above the village, this signed woodland trail is dotted with hand-carved wooden sculptures illustrating the mythological creatures of Ladin folklore — from the Vivanel water sprite to the fearsome Salvanel wild man of the forest. It is virtually unknown outside the valley and utterly magical.
Walking the Trail
The loop starts at the upper edge of Moena village near the Doss dei Laresc area and takes about 90 minutes at an easy pace, gaining only around 150 m in elevation. Illustrated story-boards in Ladin, Italian and German explain each legend beside the relevant sculpture, turning the walk into an open-air museum of a culture that has survived in these valleys since the Roman era.
Children are predictably entranced, but the quality of the carving and the depth of the mythological content make it equally rewarding for adults. The forest itself — old-growth spruce with a thick understorey of bilberry and fern — is beautiful enough to justify the walk on its own terms.
The Ladin Mythology Behind the Sculptures
Ladin mythology is a vivid, animist tradition in which every spring, forest and mountain pass has its own spirit. The Anguane are river-women who can heal or curse depending on how you treat the water; the Mazapégol is a mischievous gnome who tangles your fishing line. These are not sanitised fairy tales — they carry genuine ecological wisdom about living carefully in an alpine environment.
The nearby Istitut Cultural Ladin 'Majon di Fascegn' in Vigo di Fassa (15 km away) has a small but excellent museum if the trail sparks a deeper interest in Ladin language and culture.
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