Dolomites

Dolomites, mountain group lying in the eastern section of the northern Italian Alps, bounded by the valleys of the Isarco (northwest), the Pusteria (north), the Piave (east and southeast), the Brenta (southwest), and the Adige (west). The range comprises a number of impressive peaks, 18 of which rise to more than 10,000 feet (3,050 metres). The highest point is the Marmolada (10,964 feet [3,342 metres]), the southern face of which consists of a precipice 2,000 feet (610 metres) high. The range and its characteristic rock take their name from the 18th-century French geologist Dieudonné Dolomieu, who made the first scientific study of the region and its geology. Geologically, the mountains are formed of light-coloured dolomitic limestone, which erosion has carved into grotesque shapes. The resulting landforms include jagged, saw-edged ridges, rocky pinnacles, screes (pebble deposits) of limestone debris, deep gorges, and numerous steep rock faces at relatively low levels. Glaciated features occur at higher levels; 41 glaciers lie in the region. Many of the lower and more gentle scree slopes were once forested; only patches of woodland remain, however, interspersed with grassy meadows.

The main valleys provide relatively easy access to most parts of the Dolomites. The main north–south road uses the Campolongo Pass (6,152 feet [1,875 metres]). The east–west roads cross the well-known passes of Pordoi (7,346 feet [2,239 metres]), Falzarego (6,906 feet [2,105 metres]), Tre Croci (5,935 feet [1,809 metres]), Sella (7,404 feet [2,257 metres]), and Gardena (6,959 feet [2,121 metres]). The main centre of this tourist and mountain-climbing region is Cortina d’Ampezzo. Other resorts are Auronzo, San Martino di Castrozza, and Ortisei, with its narrow-gauge railway. On the western and southeastern margins, respectively, are located the larger towns of Bolzano and Belluno.

Most of the main peaks were first climbed in the 1860s and ’70s by English mountaineers. Landslides after heavy rainstorms in the southern Dolomites twice caused the Vaiont Dam (on a tributary of the Piave River) to overspill and drown the village of Longarone, causing the loss of more than 2,500 lives in 1963 and the destruction of houses and communications in 1966. In 2009 the Dolomites were inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.