Cortina d'Ampezzo
Cortina d'Ampezzo, incastonata nel cuore delle Dolomiti bellunesi, è universalmente conosciuta come la "Regina delle Dolomiti", ti...
Aktualisiert am 11 Juli 2026 · Quellen: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortina_d%27Ampezzo · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortina_d%27Ampezzo · https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1237 · https://www.cortina.dolomiti.org · https://milanocortina2026.olympics.com
Die Geschichte
Die Geschichte von Cortina d'Ampezzo
The Queen of the Dolomites
The nickname "Queen of the Dolomites" has accompanied Cortina d'Ampezzo for over a century, since the first alpine guides and Romantic-era travelers discovered its dolomite rock faces that ignite at sunset with the famous "enrosadira," the phenomenon that turns the peaks pink and orange. The landscape surrounding the town, with its green basin framed by spires and towers, proved decisive in 2009 when the Dolomites were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a unique example of a mountain landscape shaped by millennia of erosion on an ancient seabed. Cortina, the symbolic capital of this mountain system, still represents its most elegant and internationally recognized face today.
The 1956 and 2026 Olympics
Cortina d'Ampezzo is the only resort in the Italian Alps to have hosted the Winter Olympic Games twice. In 1956 the town experienced its international consecration, with the first Games ever broadcast on television and the first official participation of the USSR, in an event that definitively launched Cortina as a global skiing destination. Seventy years later, in 2026, Cortina returns as an Olympic host together with Milan, staging the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton events on the historic Eugenio Monti track, as well as women's alpine skiing on the Slalom and Olimpia delle Tofane slopes. The Olympic legacy left behind facilities, roads and infrastructure that still support sports tourism in the Ampezzo basin today.
The peaks: Tofane, Cristallo, Cinque Torri
Around Cortina rises an amphitheater of peaks among the most photographed in the Alps. The Tofane, with the majestic Tofana di Mezzo, dominate the western side and are home to the "Olimpia delle Tofane" women's Olympic ski run. To the north stands Mount Cristallo, an imposing limestone massif overlooking the pass of the same name, while Faloria, reachable by cable car directly from the town center, offers a panoramic balcony over the basin. Pomagagnon closes the landscape to the north with its sharp spires, while to the south, toward Falzarego Pass, rise the Cinque Torri, a group of rock monoliths famous both for climbing and for the network of trails and Great War positions carved into the rock.
Corso Italia and high society
The beating heart of Cortina's social life, Corso Italia is the pedestrian street that runs through the historic center and has always been the stage for Ampezzo high society. Luxury boutiques, jewelers, fur shops and historic cafés line a pavement that in winter fills with furs, ski boots and familiar faces from the international jet set, while in summer it hosts evening strolls beneath the painted facades of Tyrolean houses. Dominating the scene is the bell tower of the Basilica of Saints Filippo and Giacomo, over 70 meters tall, a symbol of the town visible from every point in the basin. For decades Cortina has been synonymous with alpine elegance, a destination for aristocracy, cinema and high finance since the years of the Dolce Vita.
Skiing and winter sports
Cortina d'Ampezzo is one of the most prestigious ski areas in the Alps, part of the vast Dolomiti Superski circuit that links hundreds of kilometers of slopes across Veneto, Trentino and South Tyrol. The Faloria-Cristallo-Mietres and Tofane ski areas offer runs for every level, from technical World Cup slopes to the legendary Olimpia delle Tofane. The town is a historic stop on the women's alpine skiing World Cup calendar and has also hosted World Championships over the years. Besides alpine skiing, the basin offers cross-country skiing across kilometers of trails set in nature, ice skating, bobsleigh and luge on the Olympic track, making Cortina an all-round capital of winter sports.
Via ferratas and summer trekking
In the warmer months Cortina turns into a paradise for hikers and mountaineers. The network of via ferrata routes winding through the Tofane, Cristallo and Cinque Torri allows visitors to safely tackle vertical walls once reserved for expert climbers alone, offering breathtaking views over the entire Ampezzo basin. Numerous trails connect historic mountain huts such as Lagazuoi, Nuvolau and Faloria, enabling multi-day treks amid spires, alpine lakes and flowering plateaus. Dolomite mountaineering was born on these very walls, thanks to pioneers such as Angelo Dibona and Paul Grohmann, and Cortina still remains an international reference point for rock climbing and high-altitude mountaineering today.
The Great War at high altitude
Between 1915 and 1917 the mountains around Cortina were the setting for some of the most extreme battles of the First World War, fought at over two thousand meters among tunnels carved into rock and ice. Lagazuoi preserves kilometers of trenches and underground galleries open to visitors, the scene of the famous mine warfare between Italian and Austro-Hungarian troops. The Cinque Torri host an open-air museum with perfectly preserved positions, barracks and walkways, while Cortina's Museum of the Alpine Troops tells the story of the soldiers who fought on the Dolomite front. These sites, now reachable through guided excursions, preserve the memory of a conflict fought under extreme conditions, amid snow, rock and altitude.
Ampezzo Ladin culture
Cortina d'Ampezzo belongs to the Ladin area of the Dolomites, a linguistic and cultural minority that has lived for centuries across the valleys of Fassa, Gardena, Badia, Livinallongo and, indeed, Ampezzo. Ampezzano, the local Ladin variant still spoken today by part of the population, coexists with Italian in signage, oral traditions and folk events. The ancient Regole d'Ampezzo, a communal institution that has collectively managed woods and pastures since the Middle Ages, bear witness to a unique self-governance system that has preserved the territory over the centuries. Traditional costumes, patron saint festivals, woodcraft and mountain cuisine, with dishes such as casunziei and malga cheese, complete a cultural identity that makes Cortina far more than a simple tourist destination.
Not-to-miss experiences
- Salire in funivia sulla Tofana di Mezzo per un panorama a 360° sulle Dolomiti
- Ride the cable car up Tofana di Mezzo for a 360° panorama of the Dolomites
Sehenswert
Sehenswertes in Cortina d'Ampezzo
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Routen in Cortina d'Ampezzo
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