Contents

Dolomites

Dolomites
Italian: Dolomiti Ladin: Dolomites German: Dolomiten
Valley of Funes, 2024
Highest point
Peak	Marmolada
Elevation	3,343 m (10,968 ft)
Coordinates	46°26′N 11°51′E / 46.433°N 11.850°E / 46.433; 11.850
Dimensions
Area	15,942 km2 (6,155 sq mi)
Geography
Dolomites Location of the Dolomites in the Alps
Country	Italy
Regions	Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Parent range	Alps
Geology
Orogeny	Alpine orogeny
Age of rock	Mostly Triassic
Type of rock	Sedimentary rocks, dolomite and volcanic rocks

The Dolomites

UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Three Peaks of Lavaredo
Criteria	Natural: (vii)(viii)
Reference	1237
Inscription	2009 (33rd Session)
Area	141,902.8 ha
Buffer zone	89,266.7 ha

The Dolomites (Italian: Dolomiti [doloˈmiːti]),^[1] also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite AlpsorDolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Valley (Pieve di Cadore) in the east. The northern and southern borders are defined by the Puster Valley and the Sugana Valley (Italian: Valsugana). The Dolomites are in the regions of Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Friuli-Venezia Giulia,^[2] covering an area shared between the provinces of Belluno, Vicenza, Verona, Trentino, South Tyrol, Udine and Pordenone.

Other mountain groups of similar geological structure are spread along the River Piave to the east—Dolomiti d'Oltrepiave; and far away over the Adige River to the west—Dolomiti di Brenta (Western Dolomites). A smaller group is called Piccole Dolomiti (Little Dolomites), between the provinces of Trentino, Verona and Vicenza.

The Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park and many other regional parks are in the Dolomites. On 26 June 2009, the Dolomites were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[3][4] The Adamello-Brenta UNESCO Global Geopark is also in the Dolomites.^[5]

Etymology[edit]

The Dolomites, also known as the "Pale Mountains", take their name from the carbonate rock dolomite. This was named after the 18th-century French mineralogist Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu (1750–1801), who was the first to describe the mineral.^[6]

History[edit]

For millennia, hunters and gatherers had advanced into the highest rocky regions and had probably also climbed some peaks. There is evidence that the Jesuit priest Franz von Wulfen from Klagenfurt climbed the Lungkofel and the Dürrenstein in the 1790s. In 1857 Irishman John Ball was the first known person to climb Monte Pelmo. Paul Grohmann later climbed numerous peaks such as the Antelao, Marmolada, Tofana, Monte Cristallo and the Boè. Around 1860 the Agordin mountaineer Simone de Silvestro was the first person to stand on the Civetta. Michael Innerkofler was one of the climbers of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Later very important local mountaineers, known for many first ascents, were Angelo Dibona and Giovanni Piaz.^[7]

During the First World War, the front line between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian Army ran through the Dolomites, where both sides used mines extensively. Open-air war museums are at Cinque Torri (Five Towers), Monte Piana and Mount Lagazuoi. Many people visit the Dolomites to climb the vie ferrate, protected paths through the rock walls that were created during the war.

A number of long-distance footpaths traverse the Dolomites. They are called alte vie (German: Dolomiten Höhenwege – high paths), and are numbered 1 to 10. The trails take about a week to walk, and are served by numerous rifugi (huts). The first and the most renowned is the Alta Via 1. Radiocarbon dating has been used in the Alta Badia region to demonstrate a connection between landslide activity and climate change.^[8]

Geography[edit]

The region is commonly divided into the Western and Eastern Dolomites, separated by a line following the Val Badia–Campolongo Pass–Cordevole Valley (Agordino) axis.

Current classification[edit]

The Dolomites may be divided into the following ranges:

Tourism and sports[edit]

The Dolomites are renowned for skiing in the winter months and mountain climbing, hiking, cycling and BASE jumping, as well as paragliding and hang gliding in summer and late spring/early autumn.^[9][10] Free climbing has been a tradition in the Dolomites since 1887, when 17-year-old Georg Winkler soloed the first ascent of the pinnacle of the Vajolet Towers.^[11] The main centres include: Rocca Pietore alongside the Marmolada Glacier, which lies on the border of Trentino and Veneto, the small towns of Alleghe, Falcade, Auronzo, Cortina d'Ampezzo and the villages of Arabba, Urtijëi and San Martino di Castrozza, as well as the whole of the Fassa, Gardena and Badia valleys.^[12]

The Maratona dles Dolomites, an annual single-day road bicycle race covering seven mountain passes of the Dolomites, occurs in the first week of July.

Other characteristic places are:

• Mount Pasubio and Strada delle 52 Gallerie (a military mule road built during World War I with 52 tunnels)
• Altopiano di Asiago and Calà del Sasso, with 4,444 steps, the world's longest staircase open to the public.

Major peaks[edit]

Major passes[edit]

Major parks[edit]

See also[edit]

• Alta Via 1
• Belluno
• Brenta group
• Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park
• Golden age of alpinism
• Italian front (World War I)
• Silver age of alpinism
• Strada delle 52 Gallerie
• Via ferrata
• White Friday (1916)
• White War

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort (1911). "Dolomites, The". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 394.
• Provincia di Belluno, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano-Alto Adige Autonome Provinz Bozen-Südtirol, Provincia di Pordenone, Provincia Autonoma di Trento, Provincia di Udine, Regione Autonoma Friuli-Venezia Giulia, 2008. Nomination of the Dolomites for inscription on the World Natural Heritage List UNESCO. Nomination Document. 363 pp. https://web.archive.org/web/20131225070444/http://fondazionedolomitiunesco.org/documentazione-2/01_DOLOMITES_nomination_document_jan2008_1236608233_1294933181.pdf
• Bainbridge, William (2020). Topographic Memory and Victorian Travellers in the Dolomite Mountains. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 978-94-6298-761-6.
• "HD Pictures of the main areas of the Dolomites". Bruno Mandolesi.
• "360 degree panorama Dolomites". SiMedia Srl. Archived from the original on 26 January 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
• Roger. "Walks and Via Ferrata in the Dolomites". CommunityWalk.com. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
• "Strada delle 52 Gallerie". Eclectica.
• "Monte Piana in the Dolomites". Eclectica. August 21, 2006.
• "Via Ferrata Lagazuoi Tunnels". Eclectica. August 9, 2006.
• "Up to the Turquoise Lake". Eclectica. August 1, 2006.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dolomites.

• Franco Grisa Timelapse
• North of Italy in 4K - Bashir Abu Shakra
• Dolomites on Hike.uno
• Italian official cartography (Istituto Geografico Militare - IGM); on-line version: www.pcn.minambiente.it
• Report on the via ferrata Bocchette di Brenta
• Information of the Dolomites