Description of the attraction
Tre Cime di Lavaredo are three unusual peaks, similar to the battlements, located in the north-east of Italy in the so-called Dolomiti di Sesto and are part of the natural park of the same name. This is perhaps the most famous mountain range of the Dolomites. The eastern peak is called Chima Piccola (2857 m), “small peak”, the central one is Chima Grande (2999 m), “big peak”, and the western one is Chima Ovest (2973 m), “western peak”. Like other local mountains, they are composed of layered dolomite.
Until 1919, the Tre Cime di Lavaredo served as part of the natural border between Austria and Italy, but today they separate the Italian provinces of Bolzano and Belluno and still serve as a “linguistic” border between German and Italian speaking ethnic groups. The first documented ascent of the Cima Grande took place in August 1869 by the Austrian writer and mountain lover Paul Grochmann, accompanied by guides Franz Innerkofler and Peter Salcher. Chima Ovest was conquered ten years later - in August 1879, and Chima Piccola - only in 1881. Michael Innerkofler ascended the last two peaks. The paths that the pioneers walked still exist to this day. The road to the top of Cima Piccola is considered the most difficult of the three, and the northern slope of Cima Grande, conquered only in 1933, is one of the six so-called “great northern slopes of the Alps”.
Today, climbing Tre Cime di Lavaredo is not difficult: there are many hiking trails on the peaks and in their surroundings. The most popular is the road that leads first from Paternkofel, also known as Monte Paterno, to the Auronzo alpine shelter at an altitude of 2333 meters, then to the Locatelli mountain hut at an altitude of 2405 meters, and finally to the very top of the peaks.
Since, as mentioned above, the border between Austria and Italy passed along this ridge during the First World War, you can still see dilapidated fortifications, artificial caves and numerous commemorative tablets and steles.
