From the prehistory to the Olympic Games of the1956, with specific descriptions about the Great War: between May 1915 and October 1917 the Dolomites were the stage of one of the most horrific moments in history. In an exhausting war of attrition, the Italian and Austrian Armies fought out First World War battles in these mountains.
Man has left a number of ancient marks in the Cinque Torri-Averau area since the early traces of seasonal settlements of shepherds and woodcutters and the alterations of the environment that followed.
An unpublished collection of 47th vintage postcards of Cortina and surroundings, from the 20's to the 50's .
The Great War in Cortina d'Ampezzo
Nearly ninety years have elapsed, since tens of thousands of Italian and Austro-Hungarian soldiers met in one of the most terrible fights if the First World War, on the Mountains of Cortina d'Ampezzo.
In order to keep the memory of those events alive, the Municipality of Cortina d'Ampezzo, together with the Austrian partners of the Municipality of Koetschach-Mauthen and the Alt-Kaiserjaegerclub of Innsbruck, within the programme Interreg II Italy-Austria, thanks to the financial support by the European Community through the Veneto region and to private co-financing - in cooperation with the Artistic and Environmental Property Service of the Veneto region and the Regole d'Ampezzo - have transformed all the works, constructed on the mountains by the Italian Alpine Troops and the Austrian Kaiserjaeger between 1914 and 1918, into a huge monument.
An immense open-air museum, accessible throughout the whole year, is the result of this great operation of war archaeology and restoration, which has seen the participation of the armies of the Countries that ninety years ago fought as enemies on these mountains.
The living story of the Great War
Every year, enthusiasts of the living history of the Great War gather from all over Europe to the Lagazuoi Mountain. Wearing original uniforms and equipment they populate the restored huts, emplacements, and trenches of the open-air museum for a whole day. By answering the visitors' questions, they explain the soldiers' way of life on the mountains.
The re-enactors and spectators re-live the emotions of the protagonists of that event, a unique way to understand our history.
