By so doing, the U.N. has officially recognized, through its organization for education, science and culture, the unique nature of the Dolomites. Now the Dolomites, with their famous peaks, including Marmolada (3,342 m), the Three Peaks of Lavaredo (2,999 m), Averau (2,649 m), Sciliar (2,563 m), the Pale di San Martino (3,192 m) and Mount Pelmo (3,169 m) to name just a few, will take their place among the most beautiful mountains in the world.
The ski resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo, in northeastern Italy's Dolomite Mountains. |
Mountains of Inspiration
Since time immemorial the Dolomites have charmed humanity. Dino Buzzati Traverso (1906-1972), a writer, journalist and painter originally from Belluno, loved the mountains and particularly the Dolomites, in the shadow of which he was born and raised. Almost all of his best-known writings were influenced by these mountains. As a painter, Buzzati was able to express his great admiration for the Dolomites, painting, for example, the Duomo of Milan in the form of a dolomite mountain – jagged, full of spires and sharply pointed towers.The great writer from Vicenza, Mario Rigoni Stern (1921-2008) and known to his readers as the “the Sergeant,” was one of the first to sign the 1993 manifesto of the Mountain Wilderness environmental association, which sought the recognition of the Dolomites as a “World Monument”. In an open letter addressed to schools in the Veneto Region, Stern, speaking of the beauty of the mountain landscape and its great value, wrote, “Did you know that we have the most beautiful mountains on Earth right here? They are the Dolomites.”
Scientifically speaking, as early as the 18th century the mountains, because of their characteristic colorful rock stratifications and countless fossils of prehistoric animals, became a favorite area for researchers. The area drew geologists, experts in mineralogy and the best-known geographers of the time, from around the world. They were the ones who analyzed the unique quality of the mountains’ rock composition and began to study the development of these imposing, jagged mountains that are light in color and sometimes reddish. The Italian scientist Giovanni Arduino (1714–1795), Frenchman Déodat de Dolomieu (1750–1801) and German Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) are only some of the well-known scientists who have studied the Dolomites at close range.
In 1864, the British painter Josiah Gilbert and another Englishman and naturalist, George Churchill, published a report on their voyage entitled, “The Dolomite Mountains”. The name, however, didn’t stick until after World War I, when the territory became part of the Kingdom of Italy.
Toward the end of the 19th century, the Dolomites saw numerous pioneering activities; the mountains were an excellent area for experimentation of various kinds. Bold British noblemen were the first to conquer the sharp peaks, the jagged summits and the sheer cliffs of the Dolomites. They were followed by Hapsburg climbers who wrote the most important chapters in the history of Dolomite mountain climbing. Great climbers like the Viennese Paul Grohmann (1838–1908), the first to climb to the top of Tofana de Rozes and Mount Cristallo near Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Sassolungo in Val Gardena and the Three Peaks of Lavaredo in the Sesto Dolomites, loved these mountains and wrote about them in numerous publications.
Austrian Emil Zsigmondy (1861–1885) was also a pioneer in the history of Dolomite mountain climbing. He described them as a “delicious gem in the Alps”. The Lake Garda mountain climber, actor, and movie director Luis Trenker (1892-1990), who was born in Ortisei at the foot of the inimitable Sassolungo, documented his passion for these mountains in numerous books and films, which became known worldwide. Thanks to Trenker, the rocky shapes of the Dolomites became known for the first time on an international level.
Finally there is the “king of the eight-thousanders,” Reinhold Messner. Since childhood he has loved the Dolomites. From the window of his house in Val di Funes he could admire the Odle Mountains and may have understood from the start that the mountains would always be with him. Messner has conquered all of the highest mountains on the planet, but there has always been a soft spot in his heart for the Dolomites.
“They are not the highest, but they are certainly the most beautiful mountains in the world,” Messner has been quoted.
UNESCO Recognizes the Unique Character of the Dolomites
The majestic cliffs, tall sharp peaks, impassible overhangs and jagged summits of the Dolomites cast a variety of forms and colors that have not only charmed the great mountain climbers of history, but great artists as well. Le Corbusier (Switzerland-France 1887–1965), thought by many to be the greatest contemporary architect, saw in the Dolomites “the most beautiful natural architecture in the world.” UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, maintains a worldwide list of protected natural paradises and cultural treasures that are considered to be of particular value to future generations. In recent years the organization has evaluated the candidacy of the Dolomites as a Natural World Heritage Site. This effort has had the support of the five Italian provinces of Bolzano, Trento, Belluno, Udine and Pordenone, over whose territory the Dolomites extend.The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) was commissioned by UNESCO to assess the compatibility of the characteristics of the Dolomites with the criteria for admission as a Natural World Heritage Site. They concluded that the Dolomites are unique in terms of geology, biology and scenery and therefore are unlike any other mountains on Earth. The IUCN stated that, “The Dolomites are generally considered to have some of the most beautiful mountain scenery in the world, even though they don’t have the highest peaks or the largest glaciers.”
It was the mountains' aesthetic properties, extraordinary beauty, unique geographic properties and the abundance of their flora, with more than 2,400 diverse species, that convinced the IUCN commission. In its concluding report, the IUCN proposed that UNESCO add the Dolomites to its list of top natural sites. At its 33rd annual congress in Seville on June 26th, UNESCO declared the Dolomites a Natural World Heritage Site.
The Dolomites are now listed as boasting one of the 50 most beautiful scenic areas in Europe, and one of 199 worldwide.
Marmolada. |
The buffer zones have been used for a number of decades by UNESCO as a way to provide external protection to the central Natural World Heritage Site areas. In this strip of land, infrastructure and urbanization activities that might compromise the integrity of the central areas are curtailed or prohibited. For example, there are restrictions on the height of buildings and the width of streets.
Worldwide, 199 scenic areas are on the UNESCO List of Natural World Heritage Sites. In Italy, the Dolomites are the second area of this type, joining the Aeolian Islands, which were added to the list in 2000.
Tropical Origins
Warm, shallow turquoise water, coral reefs, multicolored fish, shellfish, white beaches. This is a perfect description of a Caribbean atoll – but also of the Dolomites, which had their origins in a prehistoric tropical sea. About 250 million years ago, the present-day arc of the Alps was part of the continent Pangea, which was located far to the south, in the Earth’s tropical zone. Given the presence of mollusks, algae, coral and fish, this area saw massive limestone production. Due to volcanic activity and the consequent outpouring of basaltic magma, these organisms died off on a massive scale and were deposited on the seabed. This is why today the Dolomites are a paradise for fossil researchers.Tectonic activity lifted the seabed, the primordial ocean slowly receded and the first Dolomites began to surface. The movement of the earth’s plates lifted the mountain chain, sandstone hardened thanks to the high calcareous content, and was compressed by enormous pressure from the geological layers above it. Following the Ice Age the surface of the Dolomites began to be formed, and water proved to be a skillful and imaginative sculptor. Landslides and detritus flowed into valleys, as wind, rain and ice continued their inexorable work, so that the Dolomites change on a yearly basis.
One of the marvels to emerge from the unique mineralogical composition of the Dolomites is undoubtedly the phenomenon known as “Enrosadira” that's unique to the Dolomites. The presence of calcium carbonate and manganese in the dolomite causes the mountains to glow with an intense red color at sunset. The rocky cliffs cover the spectrum of colors from bright yellow to fiery red and then soften to shades of violet until they disappear into the total darkness of night.
Mountains of Legend
The appearance of these unusual mountains of northeast Italy is constantly changing, offering the visitor new views at every turn. For this reason the Dolomites have always inspired myths and legends.The unusual shapes of the Dolomites and their ever-changing colors have fired the imagination of those who live here for thousands of years. It's impossible to travel through these mountains without seeing faces in the rocks, caves and caverns, inhabited perhaps by Salvans (cave dwellers) or by Ganes (woodland fairies). The centuries have given rise to all kinds of legends that tell of dwarf kings (King Laurino), warriors and princesses, of alliances between humans and marmots, and of the decline and return of mysterious mountain kingdoms. Karl Felix Wolff (1879-1966) collected and wrote down these legends in 1913, thus saving them from oblivion.
Alta Badia. |
Skiing in the Dolomites
As early as the first years of the 19th century, the Dolomites were the staging area for some of the first skiing experiments in Europe. These pioneers, who came primarily from Anglo-Saxon and Germanic backgrounds, immediately responded to the beauty of these mountains, the suitability of their gentle slopes for skiing and the magical atmosphere surrounding them. Thanks to their vision, the alliance between the Dolomites and winter sports continues to the present day.The experience of discovering one of the most beautiful mountain landscapes in the world on skis is priceless. Internationally recognized trails, such as Saslong and Gran Risa, or spectacular panoramic views at the summit of Lagazuoi (2,800 m), Sass Pordoi (2,950 m), Marmolada (3,342 m) and Cristallo/Forcella Staunies (2,930 m), all reachable by cablecar or skilift, offer breathtaking winter views of the snow-covered Dolomites. The same can be said of other, less well-known trails in the 12 ski areas of the Dolomites. Thanks to an association called Dolomiti Superski it is possible to ski from one valley to the next, traveling the trails and enjoying the beautiful Alpine landscape, almost touching the vividly colored rocks – a powerful and unique experience enhanced by your encounter with the stone giants and an idea that seems like a dream.
