Salorno is the southernmost comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

(municipality) of the Überetsch-Unterland

Überetsch-Unterland

Überetsch-Unterland is a district in the southern part of the Italian province of South Tyrol. It comprises the valley of the Adige river from Bolzano in the north to Salorno in the south....

 district in South Tyrol

South Tyrol

South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...

, in the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.

Geography

As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,160 and an area of 33.2 km².

Salorno is located in the Adige

Adige

The Adige is a river with its source in the Alpine province of South Tyrol near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland. At in length, it is the second longest river in Italy, after the River Po with ....

 (Etsch) valley, about 20 km (12.4 mi) northeast of the city of Trento

Trento

Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...

 and about 30 km (18.6 mi) southwest of Bolzano. Parts of the area belong to the Naturpark Trudner Horn

Naturpark Trudner Horn

-Flora:The Trudner Horn Nature Park is home to many variety of rare plant, like are species of pasque flower Pulsatilla, Primula, Leucojum vernum, Aquilegia einseleana, Achillea oxyloba, Artemisia mutellina, Lilium martagon and Lilium bulbiferum, species of Orchidaceae , Cyclamen purpurascens,...

 nature reserve, which is part of the Natura 2000

Natura 2000

Natura 2000 is an ecological network of protected areas in the territory of the European Union.-Origins:In May 1992, the governments of the European Communities adopted legislation designed to protect the most seriously threatened habitats and species across Europe. This legislation is called the...

 network. The municipality contains the frazioni

Frazione

A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...

(subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Gfrill (Italian: Cauria) and Buchholz (Pochi).
Salorno borders the following municipalities: Kurtinig

Kurtinig an der Weinstraße

Kurtinig an der Weinstraße is a comune in the province of South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 25 km northeast of the city of Trento and about 30 km southwest of the city of Bolzano....

, Margreid

Margreid an der Weinstraße

Margreid an der Weinstraße is a comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 25 km northeast of the city of Trento and about 25 km southwest of the city of Bolzano ....

, Montan

Montan

Montan is a comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 35 km northeast of the city of Trento and about 20 km south of the city of Bolzano .-Geography:...

 and Neumarkt in South Tyrol, as well as Capriana

Capriana

Capriana is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 30 km northeast of Trento....

, Cembra

Cembra

Cembra is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 15 km northeast of Trento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,776 and an area of 17.0 km²....

, Faver

Faver

Faver is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 15 km northeast of Trento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 809 and an area of 9.4 km²....

, Giovo

Giovo

Giovo is a comune in Trentino, located about 10 km northeast of Trento in northern Italy.-Notable people:The village of Palù di Giovo is home to several famous road bicycle racers:...

, Grauno

Grauno

Grauno is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 25 km northeast of Trento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 149 and an area of 7.3 km²....

, Grumes

Grumes

Grumes is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 20 km northeast of Trento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 477 and an area of 10.8 km²....

, Mezzocorona

Mezzocorona

Mezzocorona , until 1902 Mezzotedesco is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 15 km north of the city of Trento....

, Roverè della Luna

Roverè della Luna

Roverè della Luna is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 20 km north of Trento....

 and Valda

Valda

Valda is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 20 km northeast of Trento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 230 and an area of 6.1 km²....

 in Trentino.

Origin

A settlement since the days of the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

, Salorno in the Kingdom of the Lombards

Kingdom of the Lombards

The Kingdom of the Lombards or Lombard Kingdom was an early medieval state, with its capital in Pavia, established by the Lombards on the Italian Peninsula between 568-569 and 774 .Effective control by the rulers of both the major areas that constituted the...

 was first mentioned in a 580 deed as Salurnis during the Rule of the Dukes

Rule of the Dukes

The Rule of the Dukes was an interregnum in the Lombard Kingdom of Italy during which Italy was ruled by the Lombard dukes of the old Roman provinces and urban centres...

, when Duke Euin

Euin

Euin , also Ewin or Eoin, was the first Lombard Duke of Trent during the Rule of the Dukes, an interregnum during which the Kingdom of Italy was ruled by its regional magnates, the dukes of the thirty or so cities. Euin participated in several significant wars during his long reign...

 of Trent

Duchy of Tridentum

The Duchy of Tridentum was an autonomous Lombard duchy, established by Euin during the Lombard interregnum of 574–584 that followed the assassination of the Lombard leader Alboin...

 fought against the Frankish

Franks

The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

 troops of the invading Merovingian

Merovingian dynasty

The Merovingians were a Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region largely corresponding to ancient Gaul from the middle of the 5th century. Their politics involved frequent civil warfare among branches of the family...

 kings Guntram

Guntram

Saint Guntram was the king of Burgundy from 561 to 592. He was a son of Chlothar I and Ingunda...

 and Childebert II

Childebert II

.Childebert II was the Merovingian king of Austrasia, which included Provence at the time, from 575 until his death in 595, the eldest and succeeding son of Sigebert I, and the king of Burgundy from 592 to his death, as the adopted and succeeding son of his uncle Guntram.-Childhood:When his father...

.

The village is best known for the ruins of the medieval castle Haderburg (Italian: Castello di Salorno or Castello dei Litigi). Situated on a limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 rock high above the Adige Valley, it marked the linguistic border between the German and the Italian speaking population of the Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 Kronland Tyrol

County of Tyrol

The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...

. The Salurner Klause, the bottleneck in the gorge below, was also characterized in the Bozner Bergsteigerlied as the southern end of South Tyrol. The castle was first mentioned in a 1053 travelogue and became the property of Count Meinhard II

Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia

Meinhard II from the House of Meinhardin was ruling Count of Gorizia from 1258 until 1271 and Count of Tyrol from 1258 until his death...

 of Tyrol

County of Tyrol

The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...

 in 1284 and bequested to the House of Habsburg in 1363. Since 1648 the ruins are in possession of the counts Zenobio-Albrizzi.

Salorno was annexed to Italy together with the rest of South Tyrol and other areas of the Austrian

Austrian Empire

The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...

 territory, as consequence of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 October 1920. According to the census of 1921 the majority of the population of Salorno declared themselves as German speaking. After that a governmental commission adjusted the result by modifying the declaration of people whose family name sounded Italian. Salorno lost therefore together with other municipalities the German majority. The effective Italianization

Italianization of South Tyrol

In 1919, at the time of its annexation, the southern part of Tyrol was inhabited by almost 90% German speakers. Under the 1939 South Tyrol Option Agreement, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini determined the status of the German people living in the province...

 conducted by the fascist Regime

Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)

The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...

 changed the proportion and therefore only 37% of the inhabitants speak manly German today.

Coat-of-arms

The emblem is argent

Argent

In heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it...

 a pile reversed

Pile (heraldry)

In heraldry, a pile is a charge usually counted as one of the ordinaries ....

 and chief

Chief (heraldry)

In heraldic blazon, a chief is a charge on a coat of arms that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the top edge of the shield. Writers disagree in how much of the shield's surface is to be covered by the chief, ranging from one-fourth to one-third. The former is more likely if the...

 azure

Azure

In heraldry, azure is the tincture with the colour blue, and belongs to the class of tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of horizontal lines or else marked with either az. or b. as an abbreviation....

. It is the insignia of the Lords of Graland who obtained the village in the thirteenth century. The emblem was adopted in 1971.

Linguistic distribution

According to the 2001 census, 62.19% of the population speak Italian, 37.43% German and 0.39% Ladin

Ladin

Ladin is a language consisting of a group of dialects spoken in the Dolomite Mountains in Northern Italy in the border regions of the provinces Trentino, South Tyrol and Belluno...

as first language.

External links

Homepage of the municipality