Page 78 - Libro 2
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ARTICLES                                                                                                                                                             ARTICLES



                          The “Dolomiti” Mountains of Italy, more than just landscape                                                                                                     in time, also make us stop
                                                                                                                                                                                          to think and reflect. Anyone
                                                                                              By Fabio Beconcini EFIAP                                                                    who passes through here
                                                                                                                Italy                                                                     understands  that  the  effective
                                                                                     http://www.fabiobeconcini.com                                                                        coexistence between peoples
                                                                                                                                                                                          brings peace and wellbeing for

                                                                                                                                                                                          all, not war and hatred.
                             The ”Dolomiti” Mountains is a mountain group in the Eastern Italian Alps, located in the                                                                         There are many mountain
                         southern part of the main Alpine chain, covering an area of approximately 16,000 km  and almost                                                                  peaks and valleys, the names
                                                                                                        2
                         entirely included in the northern Italian regions of Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige and Friuli-Venezia                                                              of which are often linked
                         Giulia. A small area extends into Austria, the “Lienz Dolomites”.                                                                                                to  the  sad  events  of  the
                             Talking    about      the                                                                                                                                    First World War,  which  saw
                         Dolomiti  immediately brings                                                                                                                                     ferocious battles, wars of
                         landscape  to  mind,  with  its                                                                                                                                  position and hand-to-hand
                         valleys, snow-capped peaks,                                                                                      Sunrise on the Sassolungo from the Pordoi Pass  combat in inaccessible places.
                         spires,   glaciers,  streams,                                                                                                                                    High mountains, with snow
                         lakes, woods, meadows and                                                                           and ice, under glacial storms in absolutely uncomfortable environmental conditions, forced men
                         pioneer vegetation that slowly                                                                      to build mule tracks, refuges, cableways, trenches and tunnels dug into the ice and rock, which
                         colonizes scree and stones, in                                                                      are still visible today. “Marmolada”, “Antelao”, “Catinaccio”, “Latemar”, “Pale di San Martino”, “Sciliar”,
                         a whole spectrum of  colours,                                                                       “Cristallo”, “Marmarole”, “Croda
                         of  smells  that change  over                                                                       da  Lago”, “Civetta”, “Pelmo”,
                         the course of the day and the                                                                       “Sella”,  “Col di Lana”,  “Val di
                         seasons.                                                                                            Fassa”, “Val  di  Fiemme”,  “Val
                                                                                                                             Fiorentina”,  “Val di Zoldo”,
                             The colours are probably                                                                        “Val  Rendena”, “Val  Comelico”,
                         the thing that remains most                                                                         “Sappada” and  “Cadore” are
                         imprinted in mind when you                                                                          just some of the renowned
                         visit these places: wide valleys                 First light from Valparola Pass                    names. Moreover there are
                         with very green meadows                                                                             equally famous lakes such as
                         from which pink peaks and spires emerge, chains of jagged mountains ready to take on colour at      “Misurina”, “Alleghe”, “Braies”,
                         dawn and dusk in the unrepeatable phenomenon called in dialect “enrosadìra”, which literally means   “Fedaia”, “Tovel”, “Carezza”... and
                         “becoming pink”, indicating the phenomenon whereby the rock of the Dolomiti turns light red at      so on!
                         sunrise and sunset. The colour taken on by the peaks of the Dolomiti depends on the composition
                                                                                                                                 The Dolomiti are certainly
                         of the rock itself, dolomite, which contains a compound of calcium and magnesium carbonate. This    one of the most renowned
    Articles                                                                           rays to refract on the rock and       naturalistic-environmental                      Autumn from the Fedaia Pass                                    Articles
                                                                                       composition causes the sun’s
                                                                                                                             and popular tourist areas of
                                                                                       gives life to its characteristic
                                                                                       pink colour.
                                                                                                                                                                                          the Alps.  This area attracts
                                                                                           This   phenomenon      is                                                                      thousands of tourists in the
                                                                                       unique,  it varies  from month                                                                     summer season but during
                                                                                       to month, even from one day                                                                        winter, thanks to the presence
                                                                                       to another, depending on the                                                                       of the largest Italian ski area,
                                                                                       different positions of the sun,                                                                    called  “Dolomiti   Superski”
                                                                                       the  presence or  absence of                                                                       there  are even  more  visitors.
                                                                                       clouds,  and  the  clarity  of  the                                                                Since  1990,  in  order  to  keep
                                                                                       air. Obviously, to fully enjoy                                                                     the beauty of the landscapes
                                                                                       the beauty of the “enrosadìra”,                                                                    and the extreme richness of
                                                                                       a true spectacle of nature, the                                                                    the  flora and  fauna  intact,
                                                                                       day must not be cloudy!
                                         Sunrise over the Cortina basin at 5.40 am                                                                                                        and  therefore  to conserve the
                                                                                           But the Dolomiti are much                                                                      great  “biodiversity” of these
                         more than this! In fact, we have to think of the Dolomiti as a fantastic set of geology, history, folklore,                                                      mountains, the territory is
                         environments, fauna, cuisine, sport, art and culture. Every town, every village, every mule track, every                                                         subject to some careful and
                         corner has its own immense charm; the many traces of the great war, still clearly visible, almost frozen        Trenches at Lagazuoi - traces of the 1st World War


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