Timau
Welcome to Timau, a German linguistic island
Hello everyone! Today I'll tell you about Timau, a hamlet in the municipality of Paluzza in the province of Udine. With just under 350 inhabitants, it is a German linguistic island where a particular Carinthian dialect is spoken.
Physical geography
Timau is located in Val Bût, in the alpine region of Carnia, at 830 meters above sea level. This enchanted place is situated at the foot of the majestic rock walls of Creta di Timau and Gamspitz, and is the last inhabited center before the Monte Croce Carnico pass, which allows crossing the border between Austria and Italy and reaching Austria.
The hamlet is made up of four hamlets: Par Soga (Casali Sega), Scholeit, Pauarn and Braida. The climate is typically alpine, with cold and snowy winters and cool and pleasant summers.
History
It seems that Timau was founded in 1284 by a group of miners from nearby Carinthia, specifically from Würmlach and Kötschach-Mauthen. In 1729, the village was hit by a landslide and rebuilt one kilometer further south, on the other side of the valley.
During World War I, the mountains surrounding the hamlet were the scene of harsh fighting. Maria Plozner Mentil, a Carinthian porter awarded the gold medal of military valor for her commitment and sacrifice during World War I, was born in this place.
Monuments and places of interest
In Timau, there are several religious architectures of great interest, such as the Church of the Holy Crucifix, where the mortal remains of 1764 Italian and Austrian soldiers who died in combat during World War I are kept. Instead, the Church of Christ the King houses a 15-meter-high wooden crucifix.
Among the civil architectures, there is the "Carnia zone in the Great War" Museum, where Italo-Austrian war relics from the Timave mountains are on display.
The main peaks overlooking the hamlet are Gamspitz, Pal Piccolo, Pal Grande, Freikofel, Creta di Timau, Monte Crostis, and Monte Zoufplan. All these mountains were the scene of harsh fighting during World War I.
Finally, the karstic resurgence of Fontanon, which originates the homonymous stream and is exploited by a hydroelectric power plant, is interesting. Also interesting from a naturalistic point of view are the so-called Timau Lakes.
Society
Languages and dialects
In Timau, the Tischlbongarisch dialect is mainly spoken, which belongs to the Carinthian type of south Bavarian dialects. The dialect is characterized by a significant number of archaisms and a substantial number of Italian and Friulian loans, together with phonetic solutions typical of German linguistic islands south of the Alps. For example, the pronunciation Belt instead of Welt (world) and Velt instead of Feld (field).
Timau is a magical and enchanted place where time seems to stand still. I hope you can visit it one day and get lost in its narrow streets and suggestive places. Thank you for reading me so far!
