«Lumnezia – Field Names and Legends, History and Culture»

Place and field names are essential elements of the natural and cultural heritage of a valley community. They are closely related to history, topography, settlement development and cultural traditions. However, they also reflect economic development and provide important information about social conditions. In the course of mechanization and structural changes in agriculture, many field names are forgotten.

The Lumnezia Cultural Foundation, which promotes and cultivates the culture of the Val Lumnezia, wanted to preserve the toponymic heritage of the valley from this loss. To fulfill this wish, the author Martin Cabalzar has collected the knowledge in his book "Lumnezia – Ses nums e sias detgas, sia historia e sia cultura" (Fundaziun da cultura Lumnezia 2022). The main goal of the project was the collection, localization and digitization of field names in the territory of the merged municipality of Lumnezia with its eight neighborhoods. The field names are associated with local legends. The richly illustrated volume locates the more than 2000 field names on around 120 landscape photographs and includes about 280 legends, which are enriched with 60 old photos.

Martin Cabalzar will present the newly published German-language version of the book ("Lumnezia – Field Names and Legends, History and Culture", Somedia 2024) at the Cantonal Library. This will be followed by an aperitif and a book table.

Image: © Marius Hublard