Italy
Dolomites
The Dolomites comprise a limestone mountain range of exceptional beauty that is an object of scientific study for its geomorphological and geological values.
The attraction of its “dolomitic landscape” lies in the great diversity of colours and dramatic landforms such as steep cliffs, pinnacles and ravines. Geologists value its “fossilized atolls” from the Mesozoic when this was an area full of marine life.
Community Perspective: The Dolomites are unique among the alpine landscapes and most of the 9 included areas are popular tourist attractions. Hubert has highlighted some of the rewarding hiking tours you can do here. Driving around and stopping for the views, like John did, can be rewarding as well.
Site Info
Official Information
- Full Name
- The Dolomites (ID: 1237)
- Country
- Italy
- Status
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Inscribed 2009
Site history
History of Dolomites
- 2007: Deferred
- Needs more focussed and coherent nomination (proposed site was called "The Dolomites, Italy")
- 2009: Revision
- Reduced from former TWHS Alps, a) Western Alps, b) Dolomites, c) Eastern Alps - later only Dolomites (2005)
- 2009: Inscribed
- Inscribed
- WHS Type
- Natural
- Criteria
- viii
- ix
Links
- UNESCO
- whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
- whc.unesco.org — whc.unesco.org/
Related Resources
- marmolada.com — Marmolada
- suedtirol.info — Dolomites overview, withvisitor info
News Article
- July 3, 2022 bbc.com — At least five killed in Italian Marmolada glacier collapse
- July 25, 2018 telegraph.co.uk — Italy restricts vehicle access to the Dolomites to protect mountains from excessive tourism
Community Information
- Community Category
- Natural landscape: Mountain
- Urban landscape: Urban continuity
Travel Information
Recent Connections
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UNESCO Triple Crown
See www.pnab.it
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Eagles
Golden Eagle -
Alpine ski areas in core zone
MarmoladaSee www.dolomiti.org
Connections of Dolomites
- Individual People
- Geography
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Canyons
Rio delle Foglie/Bletterbach -
Glaciers
Marmolada Glacier is the only large glacier in the Dolomites. Some experts have suggested that it "could disappear in 20-30 years from now. In 1960s, the glacier surface counted some 3.5 square kilometers. In 47 years it was down to 1.75. Furthermore, in 1980 the surface of the highest rocky crest was about 10 meters high. Today it has almost disappeared." -
Alps
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- Trivia
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Fatal Accidents or 'disasters'
At least eleven killed in Italian Marmolada glacier collapse (July 2022) -
Depicted in Mizielinska Maps
Drei ZinnenSee i.pinimg.com
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On beer cans and bottles
Forst Premium from Italy: the can shows the DolomitesSee shop.forst.it
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- Ecology
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Eagles
Golden Eagle -
Reintroduced Species
Ibex ibex reintroduced in the 1980s, Brown bear -
Notable Extremophiles
cryptoendoliths (colonizes structural cavities within porous rocks, including spaces produced and vacated by euendoliths) -
Bears
Brown bears (reintroduced)
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- Damaged
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Damaged in World War I
Vie Ferrate built to enable troops to traverse the area / Remains of Gun emplacements, hospitals and trenches / Tunnels built both for protection but also as methods of attack by placing large amounts of explosives under opposing troops. "...The events which cost the lives of thousands and literally devastated the mountain skyline (the Col di Lana and Lagazuoi peaks were blown up by mines), have become history and traces of this international tragedy can still be found in the places themselves (fortifications, trenches, mule-tracks and roads)" (nom file)
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- World Heritage Process
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Reduced from broader TWHS
TWHS originally included further sections of the Alps including the Western Alps. -
Natural sites filling gaps cited by IUCN
stratigraphy
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- Religion and Belief
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Legends and Folk Myths
King Laurin and his Rose GardenSee de.wikipedia.org
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- Human Activity
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Alpine ski areas in core zone
MarmoladaSee www.dolomiti.org
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- Constructions
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Suspended cable cars
There is a cable car on Marmolada (and ski lifts but Italy has promised to remove these); it goes from Malga Ciapela (1450 m) to Punta Rocca station (3265 m), located exactly in front of Punta Penia, Dolomites highest peak (3343 m), passing through the intermediary stations of Coston d’Antermoja (2350 m) and Serauta (2950 m). / 1967 / 12 mins -
Obelisk
Drei Zinnen War Memorial -
Via Ferrata
The Dolomites as a whole contain around 80 VF. Within the inscribed site, the Via Ferrata Marmolada is the highest (the World's second highest at 3343 metres?), longest and oldest in the Dolomites. The first VF were installed in the Dolomites during WWI (Austria/Italy) "To help troops to move about at high altitude in very difficult conditions permanent lines were fixed to rock faces and ladders were installed so that troops could ascend steep faces". (Wiki)
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- WHS on Other Lists
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UNESCO Triple Crown
See www.pnab.it
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Global Geoparks
Adamello Brenta -
Natura 2000
large parts of the UNESCO Dolomite site comprises of Natura 2000 sitesSee www.ms-monina.eu
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World Biosphere Reserves
The Ledro Alps and Judicaria biosphere reserve (2015) -
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists
Alpinism (2019)See ich.unesco.org
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- Timeline
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Triassic
Das Gebirge besteht zu grossen Teilen aus Sedimentgestein, das deutlich typische Schichtungen aufweist. Dazwischen findet man auch Lagen aus versteinerten Korallenriffen, die in der Tethys der Trias gewachsen waren. (Wiki)
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- WHS Names
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Named after individual people
Derived from the famous French mineralogist D?odat Gratet de Dolomieu who was the first to describe the rock, dolomite, a type of carbonate rock which is responsible for the characteristic shapes and colour of these mountains
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- 18
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Star Wars
The Tre Cime di Lavaredo peaks in the Sesto Dolomites were used as the backdrop to the train heist on the snowy planet Vandor in the Star Wars prequel story Solo. -
James Bond in Movies
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
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News
- bbc.com 07/03/2022
- At least five killed in Italian Ma…
- telegraph.co.uk 07/25/2018
- Italy restricts vehicle access to …
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Community Reviews
Show full reviews
I should honestly declare here that I have never climbed any of Dolomite peaks. Despite this, I think I could enjoy the qualities of Dolomites, indeed. According to the nomination text, the OUV of this natural site can be found mostly in its esthetical qualities, which can be recognized even from a distance in my opinion.
The components I could admire are as follows: the component No.6 Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Poz-Odles observed from Val di Funes, close to Brixen / Bressanone, where we spent a night in tents outside with wonderful views to the peaks of Dolomites (PHOTO), and the component (9) Dolomiti di Brenta observed from Lago di Molveno during an hour stop during the trip to Lago di Garda. The peaks are really fascinating and easily recognizable, and it belongs to the world-class landscapes.
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Due to some short term change in plans I found myself with a week to spend for private travels. Seeing flight prices at very short notice were unreasonable and having some bonus miles to spend with Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) I settled on the Dolomites. I got myself a train ticket from Hamburg to Bozen (Bolzano) in Südtirol (South Tirol). And off I went.
The Dolomites had been on my to visit list for a while. I enjoy mountains and some hiking. And the images of Drei Zinnen (Tre Cine) are iconic. Last but not least, Südtirol is one of those standard German vacations. It's not on the level of Mallorca, but certainly on par with the Lago di Garda. And I wanted to know what the fuzz is about.
I spent two nights in the area and explored two parts of the inscribed site: Schlern-Rosengarten National Park and Drei Zinnen National Park. According two Hubert these are also the best two locations of the site. But me visiting precisely those two was more of a coincidence. To me Drei Zinnen is the more iconic site while Schlern-Rosengarten offers better hiking options and gives a better overview of the diverse landscape.
In Schlern Rosengarten I crossed the mountain range from Seis to Weißlahnbad. While not as excruciating as my adventure in the Sardonic Alps with Philipp, this was still a strenuous hike. Especially coming down to Weißlahnbad was quite a challenge.
Looking back it was …
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I visited this WHS in May 2014. It was my 200th WHS so I was very excited to visit. I drove through different mountain passes and could easily discern the Dolomites from the other mountains and high hills because of their jagged nature. I was lucky enough to visit on a sunny day and I didn’t encounter any problems on the road. I tried the minor road SS 669 and I must say that there are pretty villages that are worth stopping at with splendid views of the Dolomites. I particularly enjoyed San Lorenzo in Banale which is marked as one of the most beautiful towns in Italy and rightly so. I brought lunch with me and made a picnic at Lake Molveno which is a natural beauty in itself offering unobstructed views of the Brenta Dolomites. A cable car is currently being constructed so in the near future it will be possible to access the mountain peaks from a closer range directly from Molveno. I suggest spending at least a week if you love hiking (or skiing in winter); you won’t be disappointed!
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As I had planned a full day of driving around the Italian Alps anyway, why not try to reach an inscribed area of the Dolomites? The easiest option is to go for the Brenta Dolomites, a mountain range about half an hour north of the Fiavè Pile Dwellings. As I was travelling in mid-December, I opted out of the drive on the northern mountain passes via Madonna di Campiglio as they surely would be covered in snow. I decided to try a southern loop, starting from Capo di Ponte (Valcamonica WHS!) via Bagolino.
The first 10km went great, the weather being unusually warm and sunny for the time of the year. There was no snow on the ground in the valley either, and only little of it on the mountain peaks. At a turn-off, though I was stopped by a sign ‘Crocedomini – Closed’. This really is a minor road (SS669), it can be beautiful in summer and I hope someone out will try it out for a review on this website. To me, it meant that I had to drive back all the way to Brescia, and go for the full southern approach: driving north on the highway to the Brenner Pass. That was the moment that I lost the tiny bit of time I had left in the itinerary for lunch….
The different approach went well, and I arrived at the “Dolomites viewing destination” Lake Molveno at 2.30 p.m. The core zone of the Brenta Dolomites …
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Covering a large part of Northern Italy, the Dolomites are one of the world's most recognizable and scenic mountain ranges because of their unique geology and rock formations. The WH site covers a selection of nature reserves spread across 3 regions and 5 provinces. They are well-known as a paradise for hikers, but the WH core area can be a bit tricky to reach if, like me, you rely on public transport and are not too keen on long hikes (but appreciate the fantastic scenery). The best and quickest route to get into the WHS core area by bus seem to be the regular connections from Cortina d'Ampezzo (a nice base if you also happen to collect Olympic host cities) to the Auronzo Hut, at 2,320 metres above sea level (there are also buses from Toblach/Dobbiaco). This quite well-equipped rifugio (restaurant, terrace, bathrooms) is set at the foot of the famous Drei Zinnen (Tre Cime) formation in the Sextener Dolomiten (Dolomiti di Sesto) Nature Reserve. From there, you can reach the Lavaredo Hut on a fairly level trail in about 20 minutes. This short walk gives you great panoramic views over a large part of the Dolomites. Beyond this hut, the trail gets rather steep, and anyway, I had to return to the Auronzo Hut to catch my bus back to Cortina. If you are lucky with the weather, this is really a great way to spend a day out in the mountains.
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Because there are no railways within the Dolomites, I rented a car from Bolzano station to explore the area. I decided to stay at Passo Costalunga, near Vigo di Fassa. From there I made excursions to various areas within the huge Dolomite area.
One day I went to Marmolada (area 2) via Canazei and hiked around Lake Fedaia. Then I drove to Malga Ciapela and took a cable car to the summit of Marmolada. Later I returned to Canazai via Livinallongo, Arabba and Passo Pordoi all of which provided splendid views of the mountains.
Another day I drove via Aldino and the Rio del Foglie gorge (area 8) to Lake Molveno and the Brenta Mountains (area 9). On the way back I stopped at Spormaggiore village to visit the bears and wolves in the forest nearby.
I drove through the Sciliar-Catinaccio (area 7) to reach Castelrotto, then continued through the Val Gardena, over the Passo di Sella and returned via Canazei.
The last excursion was to the verdant area of San Martino di Castrozza, overlooked by the towering Pale di San Martino. Stopped to hike from the Passo di Valles to view the massive Vezzana peak.
Driving in the Dolomites was more relaxed and pleasant than any I had seen in other parts of Italy.
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It's hard to believe that this is the first review of this WHS, because the Dolomites are a popular destination for passionate hikers and climbers. But many of the most popular destinations are also accessible for less experienced hikers. The disadvantage is, that some of the trails are very crowded, at least in summer. At some moments of our hiking tours I felt like I was in a shopping center on the day before Christmas. However, I can understand this enthusiasm. With its various spectacular forms, the Dolomites are unique among the alpine landscapes. Steep peaks and pinnacles tower over green foothills and offer plenty of magnificent panoramic views.
During our week-long stay we have made several tours in four of the nine inscribed areas. Of course, we went to the Drei Zinnen/Tre Cime, probably the best-known place in the Dolomites (area 5). We started at the car park near the Hotel Tre Cime (at 1400 m) at the road between Toblach/Dobbiaco and Cortina. The path leads through the Valle di Rienza and the Valle di Rinbon to the Drei Zinnen hut (at 2400 m), from where you have an amazing view to the Drei Zinnen (photo). The last part is very steep and you have to be in good shape. We walked back through the Valle di Rimbian, the tour took us about 8 hours. But you can also make it easier: by car or bus to the Auronzo hut (road charge) at the rather unspectacular south side of …
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