Dolomites

Dolomites
Italian: Dolomiti German: Dolomiten
View from Pordoi
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; 11.850Coordinates: 46°26′N 11°51′E / 46.433°N 11.850°E / 46.433; 11.850
Geography
Dolomites Location of the Dolomites in the Alps
Country	Italy
Province	Belluno, South Tyrol and Trentino
Geology
Orogeny	Alpine orogeny
Age of rock	Mostly Triassic
Type of rock	Sedimentary rocks, including dolomite, and volcanics

The Dolomites (Italian: Dolomiti [doloˈmiːti]; Ladin: Dolomites; German: Dolomiten [doːloːˈmɪtn̩]; Venetian: Dołomiti [doɰoˈmiti]: Friulian: Dolomitis) are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form a 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 nearly equally shared between the provinces of Belluno, South Tyrol and Trentino.

There are also mountain groups of similar geological structure that spread over the River Piave to the east – Dolomiti d'Oltrepiave; and far away over the Adige River to the west – Dolomiti di Brenta (Western Dolomites). There is also another smaller group called Piccole Dolomiti (Little Dolomites) located between the provinces of Trentino, Verona and Vicenza (see the map).

One national park and many other regional parks are located in the Dolomites. In August 2009, the Dolomites were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Etymology

The Dolomites, also known as the "Pale Mountains," take their name from the carbonate rock dolomite, itself named for 18th-century French mineralogist Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu (1750-1801), who was the first to describe the mineral.^[1]

History

During the First World War, the line between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces ran through the Dolomites. There are now open-air war museums at Cinque Torri (Five Towers) and Mount Lagazuoi. Many people visit the Dolomites to climb the vie ferrate, protected paths created during the First World War. A number of long distance footpaths run across the Dolomites, which are called "alte vie" (i.e., high paths). Such long trails, which are numbered from 1 to 8, require at least a week to be walked through and are served by numerous "Rifugi" (huts). The first and, perhaps, most renowned is the Alta Via 1.

Geography

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

Based on current classifications, the Dolomites may be divided into the following ranges:

Tourism

A tourist mecca, the Dolomites are famous 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. Free climbing has been a tradition in the Dolomites since 1887, when 17-year-old Georg Winkler soloed the first ascent of the pinnacle Die Vajolettürme.^[2] 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.

The Maratona dles Dolomites, an annual single-day road bicycle racing 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 4444 steps, the world's longest staircase open to the public.

Major peaks

Tofana Group

Winter view of the Sella Group

Vajolettürme

Major passes

Langkofel/Sassolungo

Pordoi Pass

Falzarego Pass

Gardena Pass

Major parks

360° panoramic view from Marmolada, highest peak in the Dolomites

See also

• Alta Via 1
• Belluno
• Via Ferrata
• Strada delle 52 Gallerie
• Franco Grisa Timelapse
• White Friday (1916)

References

Bibliography

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
• 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. http://fondazionedolomitiunesco.org/documentazione-2/01_DOLOMITES_nomination_document_jan2008_1236608233_1294933181.pdf

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dolomites.

• "HD Pictures of the main areas of the Dolomites". Bruno Mandolesi. 
• "360 degree panorama Dolomites". SiMedia Srl. Retrieved 14 April 2010. 
• Roger. "Walks and Via Ferrata in the Dolomites". CommunityWalk.com. 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. 

Maps

• Italian official cartography (Istituto Geografico Militare - IGM); on-line version: www.pcn.minambiente.it

National parks of Italy National parks Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise Alta Murgia Appennino Lucano - Val d'Agri - Lagonegrese Appennino Tosco-Emiliano Arcipelago di la Maddalena Arcipelago Toscano Asinara Aspromonte Cilento and Vallo di Diano Cinque Terre Circeo Dolomiti Bellunesi Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona, Campigna Gargano Gennargentu Gran Paradiso Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga Majella Monti Sibillini Pollino Sila Stelvio Val Grande Vesuvius

Mountain ranges of the Southern Limestone Alps according to the AVE Adamello-Presanella Alps Brenta group Dolomites Fiemme Mountains Gailtal Alps Garda Mountains Julian Alps Karavanks and Pohorje Carnic Main Crest Nonsberg Group Ortler Alps Sobretta-Gavia Group Kamnik–Savinja Alps Southern Carnic Alps Vicentine Alps

World Heritage Sites in Italy Northwest Crespi d'Adda Genoa Mantua and Sabbioneta Monte San Giorgio1 Porto Venere, Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto, Cinque Terre Corniglia Manarola Monterosso al Mare Riomaggiore Vernazza Residences of the Royal House of Savoy Castle of Moncalieri Castle of Racconigi Castle of Rivoli Castello del Valentino Royal Palace of Turin Palazzo Carignano Palazzo Madama, Turin Palace of Venaria Palazzina di caccia of Stupinigi Villa della Regina Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes1 Rock Drawings in Valcamonica Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato Northeast Aquileia The Dolomites Ferrara Modena Cathedral, Torre della Ghirlandina and Piazza Grande, Modena Orto botanico di Padova Ravenna Venice Verona City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto Central Assisi Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia Florence Hadrian's Villa Medici villas Piazza del Duomo, Pisa Pienza Rome2 San Gimignano Siena Urbino Val d'Orcia Villa d'Este South Alberobello Amalfi Coast Castel del Monte, Apulia Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, Paestum and Velia, Certosa di Padula Herculaneum Oplontis and Villa Poppaea Naples Palace of Caserta, Aqueduct of Vanvitelli and San Leucio Complex Pompeii Sassi of Matera Islands Aeolian Islands Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale Archaeological Area of Agrigento Barumini nuraghes Mount Etna Syracuse and Necropolis of Pantalica Val di Noto Caltagirone Catania Militello in Val di Catania Modica Noto Palazzolo Acreide Ragusa Scicli Villa Romana del Casale Nationwide Longobards in Italy, Places of Power; 568-774 A.D. Brescia Cividale del Friuli Castelseprio Spoleto Temple of Clitumnus located at Campello sul Clitunno Santa Sofia located at Benevento Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo located at Monte Sant'Angelo Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps3 1 Shared with Switzerland 2 Shared with the Holy See 3 Shared with Austria, France, Germany, Slovenia, and Switzerland