Cortina d'Ampezzo (; lld, Anpezo, ; historical de-AT, Hayden) is a town and ''
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...
'' in the heart of the southern (
Dolomitic
Dolomite () is an anhydrous carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate, ideally The term is also used for a sedimentary carbonate rock composed mostly of the mineral dolomite. An alternative name sometimes used for the dolomiti ...
)
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...
in the
Province of Belluno, in the
Veneto
it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 = ...
region of
Northern Italy. Situated on the
Boite river, in an alpine valley, it is a summer and
winter sport
Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold are ...
resort known for its skiing trails, scenery, accommodation, shops and
après-ski
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...
scene, and for its
jet set
In journalism, jet set is a term for an international social group of wealthy people who travel the world to participate in social activities unavailable to ordinary people. The term, which replaced "café society", came from the lifestyle of tra ...
and Italian aristocratic crowd.
In the Middle Ages, Ampezzo fell under the jurisdiction of the
Patriarchate of Aquileia
The Patriarchate of Aquileia was an episcopal see in northeastern Italy, centred on the ancient city of Aquileia situated at the head of the Adriatic, on what is now the Italian seacoast. For many centuries it played an important part in histor ...
and of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
. In 1420 it was conquered by the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
. From 1508, it then spent much of its history under
Habsburg rule, briefly undergoing some territorial changes under
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
, before being returned to the
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...
(later
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
), which held it until 1918. From the nineteenth century, Ampezzo became a notable regional centre for crafts. The local handmade products were appreciated by early British and German holidaymakers as tourism emerged late nineteenth century. Among the specializations of the town were crafting wood for furniture, the production of tiled stoves, and iron, copper and glass items.
Today, the local economy thrives on tourism, particularly during the winter season, when the population of the town typically increases from about 7,000 to 40,000. The
Basilica Minore dei Santi Filippo e Giacomo was built between 1769 and 1775 on the site of two former thirteenth and sixteenth-century churches; it is home to the parish and the
deanery of Cortina d'Ampezzo. The town also contains the
Rinaldo Zardini Palaeontology Museum, established in 1975, the
Mario Rimoldi Modern Art Museum, and the
Regole of Ampezzo Ethnographic Museum.
Although Cortina d'Ampezzo was unable to go ahead with the scheduled
1944 Winter Olympics because of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, it hosted the
Winter Olympics in 1956 and subsequently a number of world winter-sports events. Cortina d'Ampezzo will host the Winter Olympics for a second time when it co-hosts the
2026 Winter Olympics
)
, nations =
, athletes =
, events = 116 in 8 sports
, opening = 6 February 2026
, closing = 22 February 2026
, opened_by =
, cauldron =
, stadium = San Siro Verona Arena
, wint ...
with
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. The town is home to
SG Cortina
Sportivi Ghiaccio Cortina is an ice hockey team from Italy. They play their home games at ''Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio'', located in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Veneto. They currently play in the Alps Hockey League and formerly the Serie A.
Achievemen ...
, a top league professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
team, and Cortina d'Ampezzo is also the start and end point of the annual
Dolomites Gold Cup Race
The Dolomites Gold Cup Race (translation: ''Coppa d' Oro delle Dolomiti'') was a car race on public roads open to traffic, which was run in the Dolomite Mountains of northern Italy for ten years from 1947 to 1956. It took place along an anti-cl ...
.
Several films have been shot in the town, most notably ''
The Pink Panther
''The Pink Panther'' is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the classic film '' The Pi ...
'' (1963), ''
For Your Eyes Only'' (1981), and ''
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...
'' (1993).
History
Prehistory
The discovery in 1987 of a primitive tomb at Mondeval de Sora high up in the mountains to the south of Cortina testifies to the presence of
Mesolithic man in the area as far back as the 6th millennium B.C. In the 6th century B.C.,
Etruscan writing was introduced in the province of
Cadore
Cadore (; lld, Ciadòre; vec, italic=yes, Cadór or, rarely, ''Cadòria''; german: italic=yes, Cadober or ''Kadober''; Sappada German: ''Kadour''; , in whose possession it remained until the early 5th century. From the 3rd century B.C., the Romans assimilated the
Veneti people, giving the area the name of ''Amplitium'' (from ''amplus'' meaning wide), today's Ampezzo.
Middle Ages to 19th century
No historical information exists on the Cadore region from the fall of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
until the Lombard period. It is assumed that during the
Barbarian invasions, the inhabitants fled to the
Fassa
The Fassa Valley ( Ladin: ''Fascia'', it, Val di Fassa, german: Fassatal) is a valley in the Dolomites in Trentino, northern Italy. As an administrative valley community (Italian: ''Comunità di valle'', German: ''Talgemeinschaft'') of Trentino, i ...
,
Badia, Cordevole and Ampezzo valleys.
In the Middle Ages, Ampezzo fell under the jurisdiction of the
Patriarchate of Aquileia
The Patriarchate of Aquileia was an episcopal see in northeastern Italy, centred on the ancient city of Aquileia situated at the head of the Adriatic, on what is now the Italian seacoast. For many centuries it played an important part in histor ...
and of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
. In 1420, the village was conquered by the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
. In 1508 it was conquered by the
Habsburgs, and by 1511 people of Ampezzo swore loyalty to the
Emperor Maximilian, and that area was subsequently adjoined to the region of
Pusterthal. In 1797, when the
Treaty of Campo Formio
The Treaty of Campo Formio (today Campoformido) was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire VI) by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of the French Republic and the Austrian monarchy, respectively. The trea ...
was signed, Napoleon initially permitted the
Habsburg Empire
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
to retain it, but in 1810 he added Ampezzo to the Department of Piave, following an attack on the town in which it was burned by the French. It was short-lived; the
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...
reclaimed it in 1813, and it remained in its possession even after the battles
of Custoza and
Sadowa in 1866 when Venice was ceded to Italy. The town gained a reputation as a health resort; it was reportedly free of diseases such as cholera.
In 1874 the Ampezzo forest became the property of the Carnic Woods Consortium. Although remaining an Austrian possession until 1920 (as a part of ''
kronland''
Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
), aside from being home for an ethnic
German-speaking
German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...
minority, Ampezzo never became a German-speaking territory and conserved its original language
Ladin
Ladin may refer to:
* Ladin language, a language in northern Italy, often classified as a Rhaeto-Romance language
*Ladin people, the inhabitants of the Dolomite Alps region of northern Italy
See also
*Laden (disambiguation)
* Ladino (disambigua ...
, a
Rhaeto-Romance language
Rhaeto-Romance, Rheto-Romance, or Rhaetian, is a purported subfamily of the Romance languages that is spoken in south-eastern Switzerland and north-eastern Italy. The name "Rhaeto-Romance" refers to the former Roman province of Raetia. The ques ...
.
20th century
![Cortina 1971 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Cortina_1971_1.jpg)
When Italy entered
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in 1915, most of the male inhabitants were fighting for
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
on the
Russian front. 669 male inhabitants (most of them under 16 or over 50) tried to fight the
Italian troops. Outnumbered by the Italians, they had to retreat. After the Austrian recovery in 1917, the town was occupied again by the Tyrolean ''
Standschützen
The ''Standschützen'' (singular: ''Standschütze''
The German noun ''Standschütze'' is a so-called nominal composition, composed of the nouns ''Stand-'' (en = social position, standing, status) and ''-Schütze'' (en = rifle man). In the Imperi ...
''. On 24 November 1917, the Habsburg Emperor
Charles (Karl) traveled through Ampezzo and was received with enthusiasm by the population. A little girl handed the emperor a letter with the request to send her father home from the front because his wife and mother of nine children had died. After ten days, Bepe Manaigo was with his children. A total of 144 Ampezzans died as a result of the war. Ampezzo soldiers received 16 silver and 4 bronze medals for bravery. In the surrounding area of Cortina there were 38 military cemeteries, everywhere trenches, barbed wire, impact holes, splinters, ammunition and barracks; 2,450 hectares of forest were devastated.
The mountains surrounding Cortina were themselves the theatre of several battles during the Great War.
Following Italy's victory in World War I, Ampezzo was (together with the central and southern part of Tyrol) definitively ceded to Italy in 1920. Three years later, it was separated from Tyrol (along with
Colle Santa Lucia
Colle Santa Lucia (; Ladin language: ''Col'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Belluno in the Italian region of Veneto, located about north of Venice and about northwest of Belluno. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of ...
and
Livinallongo del Col di Lana
Livinallongo del Col di Lana (; lld, Fodóm; german: Buchenstein) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Belluno in the Italian region Veneto, located about north of Venice and about northwest of Belluno.
Ninety percent of the ...
) and incorporated into the province of Belluno, itself part of the
Veneto region
it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 = ...
.
After the war the city was renamed "Cortina d'Ampezzo" (Curtain of the Ampezzo Valley), adopting the name of one of the six villages that made up the territory of Ampezzo, located in the middle of the Ampezzo valley.
Cortina d'Ampezzo was designated as a major redoubt and held a large ammunition storage depot (46°36'50"N / 12°09'27"E) in 1945 and had been assigned as a hold out by Italian and German troops to prevent the American and British from advancing into Austria. Town and depot was scheduled to be attacked on 26 April 1945 only last minute weather prevented this strike by the 15th AF / 49th BW
Already an elite destination for the first British tourists in the late 18th and early 20th centuries, after World War I Cortina d'Ampezzo became a resort for
upper-class
Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status, usually are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper class is gen ...
Italians, too. Cortina d'Ampezzo was chosen as the venue of the 1944
winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
, which did not take place due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Thanks to finally hosting the winter Olympics in 1956, Cortina grew into a world-famous resort, with a substantial increase in tourism. With a resident population of 6,150 people in 2008, Cortina has a temporary population of around 50,000 during peak periods such as the Christmas holidays and mid-August. The
Ford Cortina
The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s.
The Cortina was produced in fiv ...
, the UK's best-selling car of the 1970s, was named after Cortina d'Ampezzo.
21st-century politics
In 2002 the Ampezzaner rifle company Ŝizar Anpezo Hayden was brought back to life. Since
Otto von Habsburg
Otto von Habsburg (german: Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius, hu, Ferenc József Ottó Róbert Mária Antal Károly Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Lajos Gaetan ...
, the then head of the Habsburg family, visited Cortina in 2005, their patron has been
Charles I of Austria
Charles I or Karl I (german: Karl Franz Josef Ludwig Hubert Georg Otto Maria, hu, Károly Ferenc József Lajos Hubert György Ottó Mária; 17 August 18871 April 1922) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary (as Charles IV, ), King of Croatia, ...
. Especially because of the eventful history, the
Habsburg brand is still very present in Cortina in the 21st century, as many pictures and photos of
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...
and of Charles I, who is particularly revered here, in inns, restaurants, bars and hotels testify. Since 2011 there has been a memorial for
Maximilian I on the main square in memory of the year 1511 and the union of the Ampezzo valley basin with Tyrol.
The town voted in October 2007 to secede from the region of Veneto and join the neighbouring region,
Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
it, Trentino (man) it, Trentina (woman) or it, Altoatesino (man) it, Altoatesina (woman) or it, Sudtirolesegerman: Südtiroler (man)german: Südtirolerin (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title = Official ...
. This was motivated by cultural ties with the
Ladin
Ladin may refer to:
* Ladin language, a language in northern Italy, often classified as a Rhaeto-Romance language
*Ladin people, the inhabitants of the Dolomite Alps region of northern Italy
See also
*Laden (disambiguation)
* Ladino (disambigua ...
-speaking community in
South Tyrol
it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol
, settlement_type = Autonomous area, Autonomous Provinces of Italy, province
, image_skyline = ...
and the attraction of lower taxes. The referendum is not executive, and a final decision on the matter can only be made by law from the Italian parliament with consent of both regional councils of Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.
In the European elections of 2014, the leading party was the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
with 30.4% of the vote, followed by
Forza Italia (19.4%) and the autonomist
Südtiroler Volkspartei
The South Tyrolean People's Party (german: Südtiroler Volkspartei, SVP) is a regionalist and autonomist political party in South Tyrol, an autonomous province with a German-speaking majority in northern Italy.
Founded on 8 May 1945, the SVP h ...
with 14.1%.
Geography and climate
Cortina is situated more or less in the centre of the Ampezzo valley, at the top of the
Valle del Boite in the
Dolomites
The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form pa ...
, which encircle the town. The Boite river flows directly through the town of Cortina itself. The mountains in the area are described as "craggy" and "soaring", "unmistakable; like a massive coral reef ripped from the sea, strung with conifers and laced with snow". The town is positioned between
Cadore
Cadore (; lld, Ciadòre; vec, italic=yes, Cadór or, rarely, ''Cadòria''; german: italic=yes, Cadober or ''Kadober''; Sappada German: ''Kadour''; (to the south) and the
Puster Valley
The Puster Valley ( it, Val Pusteria ; german: Pustertal, ) is one of the largest longitudinal valleys in the Alps that runs in an east-west direction between Lienz in East Tyrol, Austria, and Mühlbach near Brixen in South Tyrol, Italy. The S ...
(to the north),
Val d'Ansiei
Val d'Ansiei is a valley in the ''comune'' of Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Dolomites
The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps ...
(to the east) and
Agordo
Agordo ( Local Ladin: ''Agort'', Ladin: ''Ègort'', Austrian German: ''Augarten'') is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) sited in the Province of Belluno, in the Veneto region in Italy. It is located about north of Venice and about northwest o ...
(to the west). Originally it consisted of numerous ''
frazioni
A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...
'', isolated villages and hamlets, but from the 1950s it grew rapidly as a result of tourism. Only the most remote villages have remained isolated from the main town.
San Vito di Cadore
San Vito di Cadore is a small town and ''comune'' in the province of Belluno in the Italian region of Veneto. It is from Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Dolomites and is next to Monte Antelao.
The town is primarily a winter sport resort, but tourism is ...
is to the south of Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Among the surrounding mountains are
Tofane
Tofane is a mountain group in the Dolomites of northern Italy, west of Cortina d'Ampezzo in the province of Belluno, Veneto. Most of the Tofane lies within ''Parco naturale delle Dolomiti d'Ampezzo'', a nature park.
Peaks
The highest peaks of ...
to the west,
Pomagagnon
Pomagagnon is a mountain of the Dolomites in Belluno, northern Italy. It has an elevation of and is the southernmost mountain of the Cristallo Group
Cristallo () (tedesco: Kristallspitze) is a mountain massif in the Italian Dolomites, no ...
to the north,
Cristallo
Cristallo is a glass which is totally clear (like rock crystal), without the slight yellow or greenish color originating from iron oxide impurities. This effect is achieved through small additions of manganese oxide.R. W. Douglas: ''A history of ...
to the northeast,
Faloria
Mount Faloria is a mountain in the Alps of northern Italy, located in the Dolomites near Cortina d'Ampezzo. It has an altitude of and lies in close proximity to Sorapiss. It hosted the men's giant slalom event of the 1956 Winter Olympics, ...
and
Sorapiss
Sorapiss, also referred to as Sorapis or Punta Sorapiss, is a mountain in the Dolomites within the Veneto region of northern Italy. Situated in the ''comune'' of Cortina d'Ampezzo, it has an elevation of . In its vicinity is a mountain pass of t ...
to the east, and
Becco di Mezzodì
Becco di Mezzodì (2,603m) is a mountain of the Croda da Lago chain, a small mountain group in the central Dolomites. It is located above the resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo in Belluno, northern Italy. The mountain's name means ''Midday Peak'' in ...
,
Croda da Lago
Croda da Lago is a small mountain chain in the central Dolomites in Veneto, northern Italy, just east of the Giau Pass. The highest peak of the group, the Cima d'Ambrizzola has an elevation of 2,715 metres. The range is very popular with hikers ...
and
Cinque Torri
Cinque Torri (sometimes named also ''Cinque Torri di Averau''; german: Fünf Türme) comprise a small rock formation belonging to Nuvolao group in the Dolomiti Ampezzane (part of the Eastern Dolomites) north-west of San Vito di Cadore and so ...
to the south.
Monte Antelao (Nantelou in Ladin) is at 3264 m the highest mountain in the Ampezzo Dolomites and the second highest in the Dolomites. When the weather is good, Monte Antelao is clearly visible from the rive in Trieste on the Adriatic Sea. The town centre is located at an elevation of , the closest high peak is that of Tofana di Mezzo, which towers at . There are numerous fast flowing rivers, streams and small lakes in the territory, such as the ''Ghedina'', ''Pianozes'' and ''d'Ajal'', which fill particularly during the summer snow-melt season. Fauna include
marmot
Marmots are large ground squirrels in the genus ''Marmota'', with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. These herbivores are active during the summer, when they can often be found in groups, but are not seen during the winter, ...
s,
roe deer
The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...
,
chamois and
hares and, on occasion,
wolves
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
,
bears and
lynx. Much of the area of Cortina is part of the "Natural Park of the Ampezzo Dolomites".
File:Cortina_belfry_a.JPG, The town center of Cortina
File:Tofana-Massiv 2690 a.jpg, Tofane
Tofane is a mountain group in the Dolomites of northern Italy, west of Cortina d'Ampezzo in the province of Belluno, Veneto. Most of the Tofane lies within ''Parco naturale delle Dolomiti d'Ampezzo'', a nature park.
Peaks
The highest peaks of ...
''Frazioni''
The comune contains the following ''
frazioni
A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...
'' (parishes/wards) with their
Ladino
Ladino, derived from Latin, may refer to:
* The register of Judaeo-Spanish used in the translation of religious texts, such as the Ferrara Bible
*Ladino people, a socio-ethnic category of Mestizo or Hispanicized people in Central America especi ...
names in parentheses: Acquabona (Agabòna), Alverà, Bigontina (Begontina), Cadelverzo (Cadelvèrzo), Cademai, Cadin (Ciadìn), Campo (Ciànpo), Chiamulera (Ciamulèra), Chiave (Ciàe), Cianderìes, Coiana (Cojana), Col, Cortina, Crìgnes, Doneà, Fiames (Fiàmes), Fraìna, Gilardon (Jilardòn), Gnòche o Gràa, Guargné, Lacedel (Lazedèl), Manaigo, Majon, Melères, Mortisa (Mortìja), Pecol (Pecòl), Pezié, Pian da Lago, Pocol (Pocòl), Rònco, Salieto, Socol, Staulin (Staulìn), Val, Verocai, Vera (Vèra), Zuel (Zuèl).
Climate
Cortina d'Ampezzo has a
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(
Dfb DFB may refer to:
* Deerfield Beach, Florida, a city
* Decafluorobutane, a fluorocarbon gas
* Dem Franchize Boyz, former hip hop group, Atlanta, Georgia
* Dfb, Köppen climate classification for Humid continental climate
* Distributed-feedback ...
) with short summers and long winters that vacillate between frigid, snowy, unsettled, and temperate. In late December and early January, some of Italy's lowest recorded temperatures are to be found in the region, especially at the top of the Cimabanche Pass on the border between the provinces of Belluno and Bolzano. The other seasons are generally rainy, cool to warm, and windy. During the summer temperature up to 25 degrees are present.
Demographics
![Cortina febbraio 2007 - corso italia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Cortina_febbraio_2007_-_corso_italia.JPG)
Cortina's population grew steadily from the time when it was annexed to the Italian State until the 1960s. Thereafter, it underwent a sharp decline (down by 2,099 inhabitants over a 30-year period), with signs of recovery only in the very last few years. Nevertheless, with 6,112 inhabitants, Cortina d'Ampezzo is the seventh most populous place in the province following
Belluno (36,509),
Feltre (20,688),
Sedico
Sedico is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Belluno in the Italian region Veneto, located about north of Venice and about west of Belluno. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 9,143 and an area of .All demographics and oth ...
(9,734),
Ponte nelle Alpi
Ponte nelle Alpi (English: ''Bridge into the Alps'', Venetian: ''Pont'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Belluno in the Italian region Veneto, located about north of Venice and about northeast of Belluno.
Ponte nelle Alpi bord ...
(8,521),
Santa Giustina
Santa Giustina is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Belluno in the Italian region of Veneto, located about northwest of Venice and about southwest of Belluno.
Santa Giustina borders the following municipalities: Cesiomaggiore, ...
(6,795) and
Mel
Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to:
Biology
* Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL)
* National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL
People
* Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...
(6,272). In 2008, there were 44 births (7.1 ‰) and 67 deaths (10.9%), resulting in an overall reduction of 23 inhabitants (−3.8 ‰). The town's 2,808 families consisted on average of 2.2 persons.
The presence of foreign residents in Cortina d'Ampezzo is a fairly recent phenomenon, accounting for only a small number of inhabitants in what in any case is a fairly small town. There are 298 resident foreigners in the town, representing 4.9% of the total population. This compares with 7.0% in the town Belluno, 6.4% in the entire province of Belluno, and 10.2% in the Veneto region.
Language and dialects
In addition to Italian, the majority of the population speak fluent Ampezzano, a local variant of
Ladin
Ladin may refer to:
* Ladin language, a language in northern Italy, often classified as a Rhaeto-Romance language
*Ladin people, the inhabitants of the Dolomite Alps region of northern Italy
See also
*Laden (disambiguation)
* Ladino (disambigua ...
, now recognized as a language rather than a dialect. Ladin is a
Rhaeto-Romance language
Rhaeto-Romance, Rheto-Romance, or Rhaetian, is a purported subfamily of the Romance languages that is spoken in south-eastern Switzerland and north-eastern Italy. The name "Rhaeto-Romance" refers to the former Roman province of Raetia. The ques ...
and closely resembles
Romansh, which is spoken in Switzerland. The preservation of the local language, as a living medium used by younger generations, is seen as a symbol of pride and attachment to local heritage. Ladin and
Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
ean culture continues to survive despite the increasing pressure faced in recent years. Its importance is even beginning to be recognized by the local authorities who in December 2007 decided to use Ladin on signs for the names of streets and villages in compliance with regulations for the protection of linguistic minorities in force since 1999.
Economy
![Cortina Corso Italia 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Cortina_Corso_Italia_1.JPG)
Beginning in the 19th century, Ampezzo became a notable regional centre for crafts. The growing importance of this sector led the Austrian Ministry of Commerce to authorize the opening of a State Industrial School in 1874, which later became the Art Institute. It became a reputable institution in teaching wood and metalwork, admitting boys from the age of 13 for up to four years of study. The local handmade products were appreciated by early British and German vacationers as tourism emerged in the late 19th century. Some of the local items were said to have mythical qualities; the Austrian journalist and anthropologist
Karl Felix Wolff, for example, stated in 1935 that according to legend a local man "once made a sword that was so flexible that you could bend it over, tie it up, and then allow it to straighten out again". Among the specializations of the town were crafting wood for furniture; the production of tiled stoves; and iron, copper, and glass items.
[
]
Today the local economy thrives on tourism, particularly during the winter season, when the population of the town typically increases from about 7,000 to 40,000. Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books.
History Early years
Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarke ...
refers to Cortina d'Ampezzo as "one of Italy's most famous, fashionable and expensive ski resorts", which "boasts first-class facilities (skiing, skating, sledding, climbing) and superb hiking".
Cortina is home to some of the most prestigious names in fashion (including Bulgari, Benetton, Gucci
Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragran ...
, and Geox
Geox is an Italian brand of shoe and clothing manufactured with waterproof/breathable fabrics.
Corporate history
The company was founded in 1995 by Mario Polegato. The brand name, Geox, was created from a mixture between the Greek word “g ...
) and various artisan shops, antiquarians, and craft stores. It is also home to many stores specializing in mountaineering equipment. The symbol of Cortina shopping remains '' La Cooperativa di Cortina'', founded on 28 June 1893 as ''Consumverein Ampezzo''. In this shopping centre
A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre ( Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof.
The first known colle ...
many trades can be found, from confectioners to newspaper vendors, toys, gift shop
A gift shop or souvenir shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs, memorabilia, and other items relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, toys, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collec ...
s, skiing stores, and blacksmiths. The building is divided into three levels (more a raised plan and a balcony). The cooperative in Cortina was one of the first cooperatives founded in the Italian Peninsula and currently provides employment to approximately 200 people.
The five-star Miramonti Majestic Grand Hotel, of James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
fame, is more than 100 years old. Previously an Austro-Hungarian hunting lodge, it contains 105 rooms. Other hotels of note include Hotel Cornelio on Via Cantore, Hotel Montana on Corso Italia, Hotel Menardi on Via Majom, Hotel Villa Gaiai on Via Guide Alpine, and the Grand Hotel Savoia on Via Roma. There are several mountain hostels in the vicinity, including Rifugio Faloria, Rifugio son Forca, Rifugio Capanna Tondi and Rifugio duca D'Aosta, which contains restaurants.
Landmarks
Near the bridge on the Bigontina River is the Town Hall, a palace in the Tyrolean style. ''Piazza Angelo Dibona'' houses several landmarks. The ''Ciasa de ra Regoles'' is one of the more important legal buildings in Ampezzo, where the "''regolieri''" — a council for the local villages that stood before the town merged — train the community and give administrative orders. It was at one time the see of Ampezzo's primary school. Currently it contains the offices of Comunanza delle Regole d'Ampezzo and the Modern Art Museum "Mario Rimoldi". The main square of Cortina d'Ampezzo is named after the famous local mountain guide Angelo Dibona
Angelo Dibona (7 April 1879 – 21 April 1956, nickname: Pilato) was an Austro-Hungarian and Italian mountaineer. He is remembered as one of the great pioneers of climbing in the Dolomites and is responsible for many first ascents throughout the ...
.
Museums
The Regole d'Ampezzo administer the Musei delle Regole d'Ampezzo, which covers three museums:
Rinaldo Zardini Palaeontology Museum, Regole of Ampezzo Ethnographic Museum, and Mario Rimoldi Modern Art Museum.
The Rinaldo Zardini Palaeontology Museum, established in 1975, is a paleontological museum with a collection of hundreds of fossils of all colors, shapes, and sizes, which were found, gathered, and cataloged by local photographer Rinaldo Zardini. All of the pieces were found in the Dolomites and tell of a time when these high mountain peaks were still on the bottom of a large tropical sea, populated by marine invertebrates, fish, corals, and sponges.
The Regole of Ampezzo Ethnographic Museum is an ethnographic museum situated in an old restored Venetian sawmill at the confluence of the Boite and Felizon rivers to the north of the town. There are objects related to everyday life, rural, and pastoral practices in the vicinity; agricultural tools; techniques; materials processing; and clothing typical of the valley.
The Mario Rimoldi Modern Art Museum is an art gallery, established in 1941, which preserves over 800 works by major Italian artists of the 20th century including Filippo De Pisis, Felice Carena
Felice Carena (13 August 1879 – 10 June 1966) was an Italian painter.
Biography
Born at Cumiana, he studied in the Turin's Accademia Albertina, where he attended symbolist poets such as Arturo Graf and Giovanni Cena. In 1906 he moved to ...
, Pio Semeghini, Renato Guttuso
Renato Guttuso (26 December 1911 – 18 January 1987) was an Italian painter and politician. His best-known works include ''Flight from Etna'' (1938–39), ''Crucifixion'' (1941) and ''La Vucciria'' (1974). Guttuso also designed for the theatre ( ...
, Tullio Garbari, Massimo Campigli
Massimo Campigli (; born Max Ihlenfeld, 4 July 189531 May 1971) was an Italian painter and journalist.
Biography
He was born in Berlin, but spent most of his childhood in Florence. His family moved to Milan in 1909, and here he worked on the '' ...
, and many others. It also hosts temporary exhibitions on various topics.
The Great War Tour stretches over across the mountains between Lagazuoi and Sass de Stria. It includes the Great War Open Air Museum with its trenches and tunnels. In winter it is accessible to skiers, but it is easier to visit on foot or by mountain bike in the summer months.
Churches
The Basilica Minore dei Santi Filippo e Giacomo was built between 1769 and 1775 on the site of two former 13th and 16th-century churches; it is home to the parish and the deanery of Cortina d'Ampezzo. Its high wooden altar, crowned by a figure of Christ the Redeemer, was carved by Andrea Brustolon
Andrea Brustolon (20 July 1662 – 25 October 1732) was an Italian sculptor in wood. He is known for his furnishings in the Baroque style and devotional sculptures.
Biography
He was trained in a vigorous local tradition of sculpture in hi ...
. On the ceiling are three frescoes by Luigi Ghedina: "Christ Purifying the Temple", "The Martyrdom of St. Philip", and "The Beheading of St. James".
The Chiesa della Madonna della Difesa was built in 1750 on the site of a ruined 14th-century building. Its façade features an intricate fresco depicting the Madonna della Difesa, and the interior is decorated with a wealth of statues, paintings, polychrome marble, and gold leaf.
The Cappella della Beata Vergine di Lourdes (Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes) was completed in 1907. Decorated by artist Corrado Pitscheider of the Val Gardena
Val Gardena (; german: Gröden ; lld, Gherdëina ) is a valley in Northern Italy, in the Dolomites of South Tyrol. It is best known as a tourist skiing, rock climbing, and woodcarving area.
Geography
The valley's main river is the Derjon, a ...
, it is a small church of particular interest given the reconstruction sculpture.
The Cappella di Sant'Antonio da Padova in the village of Chiave was completed in 1791, but the interior was renovated in 1809 after serious fire damage caused by the Napoleonic troops. The furnishings include two wooden busts (Christ and St. Catherine) and a richly designed altar.
Sacrario militare di Pocol (also known as Ossario di Pocol) is a cemetery and shrine located at an altitude of towards Passo Falzarego, in the locality of Pocol. The small church and cemetery were built in 1916 as a military cemetery by the 5th Alpine group. A shrine was built in 1935 as a memorial to the thousands who lost their lives during World War I on the Dolomite front. It is a massive square tower of stone, clearly visible from the entire Ampezzo valley below. In a crypt in the centre of the structure rests the body of general Antonio Cantore, who was awarded the gold medal for military valor.
Castles and forts
The Castello de Zanna is a small fortress, situated in the ''vila'' of Minel. It consists of low, white outer walls and two white corner towers, with a small chapel dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The construction of the castle began in 1694, but on 19 August 1696 work was interrupted; the building remained unfinished in 1809 when it was burned by French revolutionary troops who had invaded Ampezzo. Since then the castle has undergone restoration.
Forte Tre Sassi (or Forte Tra i Sassi) is a fortress constructed in 1897 during the Austro-Hungarian period on the Passo Valparola. It lies between Sass de Stria and Piccolo Lagazuoi, dominating the passage between the Passo Falzarego and Val Badia
The Val Badia ( en, Badia Valley, Ladin: ''Val Badia''; it, Val Badia; german: Gadertal) is the valley of the Gran Ega river in South Tyrol, Italy. It stretches from the Sella massif northwards to the Puster Valley. The villages in the Val Badia ...
in South Tyrol (Alto Adige). It was part of the large complex of Austrian fortifications built on the Italian border in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Rendered unusable due to a bombing by the Italians on 5 July 1915, the ruins remained in a state of disrepair until the advent of the 21st century, when it was restored by the local administration of Ampezzo with the assistance of the Lacedelli family. The fort houses a museum containing relics related to the First World War.
Castello di Botestagno
Castello di Botestagno (also known as Podestagno, or ''Peutelstein'' in German) is a ruined medieval fort in the ''comune'' of Cortina d'Ampezzo in the southern (Dolomitic) Alps of the Veneto region of Northern Italy. It is perched on a rock in th ...
(also known as Podestagno) was a medieval fort perched on a rock in the valley of the river Boite, a little farther north of Cortina d'Ampezzo. It is believed that it was first erected as a stakeout during conflict with the Lombards between the 7th and 8th centuries, with the aim of dominating the three valleys that converge beneath it: the Boite, the Val di Fanes, and the Val Felizon. The cornerstone, however, probably dates to the 11th century. It was held by the Germans until 1077, and then by the patriarchs of Aquileia (12th century) and Camino (13th century), until Botestagno became the seat of a captaincy. It then passed into Venetian hands and finally to the Habsburgs. During the 18th century the castle gradually lost importance until it was auctioned in 1782 by order of Emperor Joseph II
Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...
. Today the fort has now almost completely disappeared; only the remnants of what must have been the wine cellars and the foundations remain, now weathered and largely covered up by vegetation.
Culture
Cortina has a long tradition in hosting writers, intellectuals, poets and editors from all over the world. Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...
, Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only w ...
, Dino Buzzati
Dino Buzzati-Traverso (; 14 October 1906 – 28 January 1972) was an Italian novelist, short story writer, painter and poet, as well as a journalist for ''Corriere della Sera''. His worldwide fame is mostly due to his novel ''The Tartar Ste ...
, as well as Vittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter.
He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important productions ...
, Leonardo Sciascia
Leonardo Sciascia (; 8 January 1921 – 20 November 1989) was an Italian writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, and politician. Some of his works have been made into films, including '' Porte Aperte'' (1990; ''Open Doors''), ''Cadaveri Eccellent ...
, Leonardo Mondadori and many others, spent their vacations in the town and took part in the cultural life of the city. Through the years, this led to a continuous activity of literature festivals and book presentations, like Una Montagna di Libri ("A Mountain of Books"), held twice a year since 2009. The festival attracted to Cortina writers as Azar Nafisi
Azar Nafisi ( fa, آذر نفیسی; born 1948)Following eighth grade, Nafisi's parents sent her to England for schooling from 1961 to 1963. Nafisi 2010, chapter 8, pp. 69-70; chapter 13, p. 115 is an Iranian-American writer and professor of Englis ...
, Peter Cameron, Emmanuel Carrère
Emmanuel Carrère (born 9 December 1957) is a French author, screenwriter and film director.
Life Family
Carrère was born into a wealthy family in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. His father, Louis Carrère d'Encausse, is a retired insuranc ...
.
Music is important to the locals of Cortina, with a guitar found in most houses, and young musicians are often found walking the streets.[p.176] Every year, from the end of July to early August, Cortina hosts the Dino Ciani Festival and Academy. It is held in honour of the celebrated Italian pianist Dino Ciani
Dino Ciani (June 16, 1941 – March 28, 1974) was an Italian pianist.
Ciani was born in Fiume (now Rijeka in Croatia) and studied piano with Martha Del Vecchio in Genoa. He obtained his diploma at the Conservatory in Rome at the age of 14 an ...
(1941–1974) who died when he was only 32. The festival attracts young pianists from around the world who are able to benefit from classes with some of the world's leading performers. The Festival of the Bands is another annual musical event featuring brass bands from Italy and beyond during the last week of August. Cortina's own band, parading in traditional costumes, is a central attraction dating back to 1861.[ Cortina d'Ampezzo hosted the 1953 ]Miss Italia
Miss Italia is a beauty pageant awarding prizes every year to young, female contestants from Italy. Since the first edition of the contest in 1939 many of the contestants have gone on to notable careers in television and film.
History
The forer ...
contest, won by Marcella Mariani
Marcella Mariani (Rome, Italy, 8 February 1936 – Monte Terminillo, Italy, 13 February 1955) was an Italian actress and Miss Italy contest winner. Though she appeared in several popular movies and was garnering acclaim as an actress, her career ...
. Traditionally, on the eves of the festivals of Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity and St Philip and St James, the youth of the town would climb the hills at sunset and light fires.
After Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...
's wife Hadley lost a suitcase filled with Hemingway's manuscripts at the Gare de Lyon
The Gare de Lyon, officially Paris-Gare-de-Lyon, is one of the six large mainline railway stations in Paris, France. It handles about 148.1 million passengers annually according to the estimates of the SNCF in 2018, with SNCF railways and RER ...
in Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, he took a time off. He began writing that same year in Cortina d'Ampezzo, writing ''Out of Season''.
The dominant religion in the comune of Cortina d'Ampezzo is Roman Catholicism.
Among the religious minorities, mainly a result of recent immigration, there is a small community of Eastern Orthodox Christians and Muslims. There is also a congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, which has its headquarters in Pian da Lago.
The surroundings of Cortina have been the location for a number of movies, including mountain climbing scenes for ''Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...
'', ''Krull Krull is a surname originating from Prussian nobility.
People
*Alexander Krull (born 1970), German singer
*Annie Krull (1876–1947), German operatic soprano
*Germaine Krull (1897–1985), photographer
* Hasso Krull (born 1964), Estonian po ...
'' and ''The Pink Panther
''The Pink Panther'' is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the classic film '' The Pi ...
''. The resort was the primary area for location shooting in Sergio Corbucci
Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies.
He is the older bro ...
's Revisionist Spaghetti Western ''The Great Silence
''The Great Silence'' ( it, Il grande silenzio) is a 1968 revisionist Spaghetti Western film directed and co-written by Sergio Corbucci. An Italian-French co-production, the film stars Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski, Vonetta McGee (in ...
''; the resort was used to represent Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
in the winter of 1898.[Hughes, 2009] It was a glamorous location for Elizabeth Taylor in '' Ash Wednesday'' (1973), and was also a major location for the 1981 James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
film '' For Your Eyes Only''. Roger Moore's James Bond meets the character Luigi Ferrara (John Moreno
John Moreno a.k.a. Juan Moreno (born 4 March 1939) is a British actor, probably best known for his role as Luigi Ferrara in the 1981 James Bond feature film '' For Your Eyes Only''.
His other film credits include appearances in ''Les Misérabl ...
) at the peak of Tofana and stays at the Hotel Miramonti. A number of action sequences were shot in the town involving Bond and Erich Kriegler ( John Wyman), as Kriegler competes in the biathlon
The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not time ...
. The battle culminates in one of the famous ski chase sequences in film, where Bond has to escape Kriegler and a crew of assassins on a spike-wheeled motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
s, his route taking them all onto the bobsleigh run. The actual town centre was also the scene of the first attack on Bond and his partner Melina Havelock ( Carole Bouquet) by two motorcyclists who attempted to run them over, only for Bond to eliminate them both, putting one of them through the window of a local florist.
Sports
Cortina d'Ampezzo hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics, originally scheduled for 1944
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 2 – WWII:
** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...
, but cancelled because of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. The 1927 Nordic, 1941 Nordic, and 1941 Alpine World Championships were held in Cortina as well, although both 1941 championships were withdrawn by the International Ski Federation (FIS) in 1946. The region lost Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
bids in 1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
( Calgary, Canada) and 1992 (Albertville, France).
Cortina hosted the 2021 Alpine World Championships, and, with Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, will jointly host the 2026 Winter Olympics
)
, nations =
, athletes =
, events = 116 in 8 sports
, opening = 6 February 2026
, closing = 22 February 2026
, opened_by =
, cauldron =
, stadium = San Siro Verona Arena
, wint ...
and the 2026 Winter Paralympics
The 2026 Winter Paralympics ( it, Giochi paralimpici invernali del 2026), officially known as the XIV Paralympic Winter Games, and commonly known as Milano-Cortina 2026, is an international winter multi-sport event for disabled athletes that is ...
.[Milan-Cortina to host 2026 Winter Olympics](_blank)
Ben Church, CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
, 24 June 2019[Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics](_blank)
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
, accessed 28 June 2019
The town is home to SG Cortina
Sportivi Ghiaccio Cortina is an ice hockey team from Italy. They play their home games at ''Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio'', located in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Veneto. They currently play in the Alps Hockey League and formerly the Serie A.
Achievemen ...
, a professional ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
team in Serie A1, Italy's top division. Cortina is also the start and end point of the annual Dolomites Gold Cup Race
The Dolomites Gold Cup Race (translation: ''Coppa d' Oro delle Dolomiti'') was a car race on public roads open to traffic, which was run in the Dolomite Mountains of northern Italy for ten years from 1947 to 1956. It took place along an anti-cl ...
, a historical re-evocation event for production cars on public roads. The town hosted the Red Bull Road Rage in 2009.
Cortina also offers skiing facilities for amateurs, centrally located among the 12 resorts of the Dolomiti Superski
The Dolomiti Superski is a ski area in Italy. Created in 1974, it is spread over an area of about 3,000 km2 in the Triveneto region of Italy, and includes most of the winter ski slopes of the Dolomites. Comprising 12 ski resorts and a total o ...
area. Cortina itself has of pistes with 34 lifts and guaranteed snow coverage of over 95% from December to April. There are six ski schools (two for cross-country) and some 300 instructors. The Faloria-Cristallo-Mietres ski area has views over the Ampezzo Valley and is suitable forall abilities, including children. The Tofane
Tofane is a mountain group in the Dolomites of northern Italy, west of Cortina d'Ampezzo in the province of Belluno, Veneto. Most of the Tofane lies within ''Parco naturale delle Dolomiti d'Ampezzo'', a nature park.
Peaks
The highest peaks of ...
area offers more challenging opportunities from an elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...
of with the Canalone and Schuss ski runs. The longest run, the Armentarola piste in the Lagazuoi-5 Torri area, starts next to the Lagazuoi refuge at and is reached by cable car. With the Forcella Staunies (currently not in operation) and the Forcella Rossa, the ski area has one of the steepest slopes in the Dolomites. There are numerous ski freeride and tour options in the mountains around Cortina.
Facilities also exist for cross-country skiing, including a long stretch of the old railway line. In and around Cortina, there are opportunities to participate in many other winter sports such as curling, ski mountaineering, snowboarding, sledding, and extreme skiing. In the summer months, sports include trekking, trail running, biking, rock climbing, tennis, golf, swimming, and ice skiing. Cortina is known for the many via ferrata
A via ferrata ( Italian for "iron path", plural ''vie ferrate'' or in English ''via ferratas'') is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other locations. The term "via ferrata" is used in most countries and languages except ...
s in the surrounding mountains such as the VF Ivano Dibona that was used in the movie Cliffhanger. The annual Lavaredo Ultra Trail series of international trail running races is based at Cortina.[
]
Transport
Cortina Airport was built for the 1956 Winter Olympics, but is currently closed. The town has its own bus service, connecting the centre to surrounding villages and cable car lifts. The nearest airports are those serving Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
: the distance to Treviso
Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and '' comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Ven ...
is while that to Venice Marco Polo Airport
Venice Marco Polo Airport is the international airport of Venice, Italy. It is located on the mainland near the village of Tessera, a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Venice located about east of Mestre (on the mainland) and around the same ...
is . Both can be reached in about two and a quarter hours by road. The railway station for Cortina is Calalzo di Cadore
Calalzo di Cadore is a municipality of 2,400 inhabitants of the province of Belluno, in the Italian region of Veneto. The name ''Calalzo'' derives from the Latin ''altus callis,'' meaning "high place."Wikipedia Italia, Calalzo di Cadore The geo ...
, to the south east, with rail connections to Venice and a bus service to Cortina. The total journey time to Venice is about three and a half hours. There are also direct bus links from Venice Mestre and Padova railway station
Padova railway station, or Padua railway station ( it, Stazione di Padova), sometimes referred to as ''Padova Centrale'', is the main station serving the city and ''comune'' of Padua, in the Veneto region, northeastern Italy.
Opened in 1842, t ...
s, coordinated with the arrivals and departures of Eurostar
Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operate ...
trains.
Cortina was the principal intermediate station on the narrow-gauge (950mm) Dolomites Railway from Calalzo
Calalzo di Cadore is a municipality of 2,400 inhabitants of the province of Belluno, in the Italian region of Veneto. The name ''Calalzo'' derives from the Latin ''altus callis,'' meaning "high place."Wikipedia Italia, Calalzo di Cadore The geo ...
to Toblach
Toblach (; it, Dobbiaco ) is a ''comune''/''Gemeinde'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located in the Puster Valley about northeast of the city of Bolzano, on the border with Austria.
Geography
As of November 30, 2010, it had ...
. When the line was electrified in 1929 the only sub-station was established at Cortina. The line closed in 1964 but in February 2016 the regional governments of Veneto
it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 = ...
and Trentino-Alto Adige announced that they are to commission a feasibility study to build a new line between Calalzo, Cortina and Toblach.
Notable people
Cortina has attracted many distinguished guests, often inspiring them in their creative work. They include the Italian novelists Dino Buzzati
Dino Buzzati-Traverso (; 14 October 1906 – 28 January 1972) was an Italian novelist, short story writer, painter and poet, as well as a journalist for ''Corriere della Sera''. His worldwide fame is mostly due to his novel ''The Tartar Ste ...
(1906–1972), author of ''The Tartar Steppe
''The Tartar Steppe'' ( it, Il deserto dei Tartari, ), also published as ''The Stronghold'' (''La fortezza''), is a novel by Italian author Dino Buzzati, published in 1940.
The novel tells the story of a young officer, Giovanni Drogo, and his li ...
'', Goffredo Parise
Goffredo Parise (8 December 1929 in Vicenza – 31 August 1986 in Treviso) was an Italian writer, journalist, and screenwriter. He won the Viareggio Prize in 1965 for his novel ''Il padrone'' ''(The Boss)'' and the Strega Prize in 1982 for ''S ...
(1929–1986) and Fernanda Pivano
Fernanda Pivano (18 July 1917 – 18 August 2009) was an Italian writer, journalist, translator and critic.
Early life
Pivano was born in Genoa in 1917. When she was a teenager she moved with her family to Turin where she attended the Massimo D ...
(1917–2009).[ ]Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...
, author of '' A Farewell to Arms'', also arrived in the area in 1918 as a young ambulance driver. Other notable visitors include John Ball (1818–1889), the Irish mountaineer and naturalist who climbed Monte Pelmo
Monte Pelmo is a mountain of the Dolomites, in the province of Belluno, Northeastern Italy.
The mountain resembles a giant block which stands isolated from other peaks, so can be seen clearly from the neighbouring valleys and from nearby mounta ...
in 1857, the Italian mountaineers Emilio Comici
Leonardo Emilio Comici (21 February 1901 – 19 October 1940) was an Italian mountain climber and caver. He made numerous ascents in the Eastern Alps, particularly in the Dolomites (where he made over 200 first ascents during his career) and in the ...
(1901–1940), Angelo Dibona
Angelo Dibona (7 April 1879 – 21 April 1956, nickname: Pilato) was an Austro-Hungarian and Italian mountaineer. He is remembered as one of the great pioneers of climbing in the Dolomites and is responsible for many first ascents throughout the ...
(1879–1956) and Lino Lacedelli
Lino Lacedelli (4 December 1925 – 20 November 2009) was an Italian mountaineer. Together with Achille Compagnoni, on 31 July 1954 he was the first man to reach the summit of K2.
Early life
Lacedelli was born in Cortina d'Ampezzo. His climbi ...
(1925–2009), the Italian skier Kristian Ghedina
Kristian Ghedina (; born 20 November 1969) is an Italian alpine skiing coach and former competitive racer. His 13 victories are the second most by an Italian downhill specialist in World Cup history: the first is Dominik Paris with 21 victori ...
(born 1969), the Italian bobsledder Eugenio Monti
Eugenio Monti (23 January 1928 – 1 December 2003) was an Italian bobsledder and alpine skier. He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the bobsleigh, with ten World championship medals (of which nine gold) and 6 Olympic m ...
(1928–2003), the Austrian mountaineer Paul Grohmann
Paul Grohmann (12 June 1838 – 29 July 1908) was an Austrian mountaineer and writer.
Biography
Grohmann was a pioneer in exploring technically challenging mountains and is thought to have made more first ascents of Eastern Alps summits than any ...
(1838–1908) and the Austrian skier Toni Sailer
Anton Engelbert "Toni" Sailer (17 November 1935 – 24 August 2009) was an Austrian alpine ski racer, considered among the best in the sport. At age 20, he won all three gold medals in alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics. He nearly duplica ...
(1935–2009). Frequent visitors include the Italian businessman and former racing driver Paolo Barilla
Paolo Barilla (born 20 April 1961) is a businessman and a former Formula One driver who raced for the Minardi team. He is now the Deputy Chairman of the Barilla Group and, as of January 2017, had a net worth of US$1.39 billion.
Racing career
Bari ...
(born 1961) and the journalist and writer Indro Montanelli
Indro Alessandro Raffaello Schizogene Montanelli (; 22 April 1909 – 22 July 2001) was an Italian journalist, historian and writer. He was one of the fifty World Press Freedom Heroes according to the International Press Institute.
A volunte ...
(1909–2001).
Among the distinguished sportsmen from Cortina itself are the skiers Enrico Colli
Enrico Colli, vulgo Paor[Ilio Colli esce di pista nella lib ...](_blank)
, his younger brother Vincenzo
Vincenzo is an Italian male given name, derived from the Latin name Vincentius (the verb ''vincere'' means to win or to conquer). Notable people with the name include:
Art
* Vincenzo Amato (born 1966), Italian actor and sculptor
*Vincenzo Bell ...
, and Giuseppe Ghedina
Giuseppe Ghedina (25 October 1898 – 27 September 1986) was an Italian cross-country skier who competed in the 1924 Winter Olympics
The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games (french: Iers Jeux olympiques d' ...
who competed in the 1924 Winter Olympics
The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games (french: Iers Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Chamonix 1924 ( frp, Chamôni 1924), were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, Franc ...
, Severino Menardi who participated in the 1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hiro ...
and 1936 Winter Olympics
The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...
, and Stefania Constantini, gold-medalist curler in the 2022 Winter Olympics. Other local citizens include the climbers Angelo Dibona
Angelo Dibona (7 April 1879 – 21 April 1956, nickname: Pilato) was an Austro-Hungarian and Italian mountaineer. He is remembered as one of the great pioneers of climbing in the Dolomites and is responsible for many first ascents throughout the ...
(1879–1956) and Lino Lacedelli
Lino Lacedelli (4 December 1925 – 20 November 2009) was an Italian mountaineer. Together with Achille Compagnoni, on 31 July 1954 he was the first man to reach the summit of K2.
Early life
Lacedelli was born in Cortina d'Ampezzo. His climbi ...
(1925–2009), and the painter Luigi Gillarduzzi (1822–1856).
International relations
Twin towns / sister cities
Cortina is twinned with:
* Cattolica
Cattolica (; rgn, Catòlga) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Rimini, Italy, with 16,233 inhabitants as of 2007.
History
Archaeological excavations show that the area was already settled in Roman times.
Cattolica rose as a resting pl ...
, Italy (since 16 March 1971)
* Skardu
, nickname =
, motto =
, image_skyline =
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, pushpin_label_position ...
, Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
See also
* Italian front (World War I)
* White War
The White War ( it, Guerra Bianca, german: Gebirgskrieg, hu, Fehér Háború) is the name given to the fighting in the high-altitude Alpine sector of the Italian front during the First World War, principally in the Dolomites, the Ortles-Cev ...
References
Citations
General sources
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External links
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Cortina d'Ampezzo ski resort news
Cortina Great War Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cortina D'ampezzo
Cortina d'Ampezzo
Cities and towns in Veneto
Ski areas and resorts in Italy