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UNESCO DOLOMITES

 

UNESCO DOLOMITES,
THE HERITAGE OF THOSE WHO LIVE IN IT AND OF ALL HUMANITY

dolomiti unescoPacked with history, unique beauties and geological importance the Unesco Dolomites are much admired in photographs and many others come to visit them in person. They probably need no introduction so we will offer a journey backwards in time made up of quick flashes, an entirely incomplete snapshot of this extraordinary area. If you want, come along with us on this journey and keep reading!

 

  • Now you know the Unesco Dolomites as they are famous the world over: you’ve seen photographs of wonderful places and you can’t wait to come and see for yourself so that you can see, remember and perhaps immortalise these landscapes yourself.
  • Since 2019 we have gained the qualification of IML (International Mountain Leader), according to the high standards of the UIMLA (Union of International Mountain Leaders Association), an international association that gather together mountain professionals.
  • In 2017 we, Chiara and Claudio, completed our Mountain Leader training.
  • In 2009 UNESCO declared the Dolomites Natural World Heritage site.
  • In 1963 the film The Pink Panther was shot in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Many films have been set in Cortina and give glimpses of unforgettable landscapes.
  • In 1857 John Ball climbed to the peak of Mount Pelmo, the advent of Dolomite mountaineering history.
  • In 1791 Déodat de Dolomieu discovered Dolomite, a sedimentary rock differing from the already well known limestone.
  • In 1779, border between the Holy Roman Empire and the Venetian Serenissima Republic.
  • 7000 years ago lived the man whose burial site was found at Mondeval di Sopra.
  • 9700 years ago the last ice age, Wurm, ended.
  • 12,000 years ago, despite the glaciers, man spent time in the Dolomites. An Epigravettian era burial site has been found near the Villabruna shelter in Val Cismon.
  • 110,000 years ago the last ice age began.
  • 65,000,000 years ago, the dinosaurs became extinct.
  • 220,000,000 years ago the dinosaurs pastured in the Dolomites and left their footprints here.
  • 255.000.000 years ago started the deposition of Val Gardena Sandstone, it’s the first geological formation of the Dolomites.

 

DOLOMITES WORLD HERITAGE SITE

The Dolomites were granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2009 for their unique geological and landscape features.

Point VII of UNESCO’s declaration of exceptional universal value requires sites to “encompass superlative natural phenomenon and areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance“.

It is an established fact that the UNESCO Dolomites are generally considered one of the most beautiful mountain landscapes in the world.
Unique and instantly recognisable, the Dolomites feature strong colour contrasts between their green meadows and bare rock and their overwhelming beauty derives from the juxtaposition between the great variety of vertical rock formations and its many horizontal surfaces such as ledges and high plateaux.

unesco dolomites mapPoint VIII of UNESCO’s declaration of exceptional universal value requires sites to “constitute exceptional examples representing the most important phases in the earth’s history…”.

From both the geomorphological and geological points of view, the Dolomites are an open air book telling of 300,000 years of history in a very detailed, accessible and easy to read way. There is nothing accidental about the fact that they have been a geological reference point since the dawn of geology.

The UNESCO Dolomites are a ‘serial’ site because they take the form of a unitary whole of 9 areas. The Dolomites are truly unique only when all these 9 sites are taken together: there is thus a network of relationships between the various parts capable of telling the story of this book in rock form which constitutes and represents its exceptional landscape peculiarities.

Those of us who live here were very proud when it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it has been an everyday stimulus to joint working between the nine UNESCO Dolomites site areas, respecting the area, conserving it and promoting it in an innovative and self-aware way.

The Dolomites – internationally unique
The Dolomites – a rock novel, carved out by time
The Dolomites – a guarantee of integrity