Surface: 4,344 hectares Provinces: Belluno Main peaks: Mount Pelmo (3,168 m) Pelmetto (2,990 m) Croda da Lago (2,701 m) Mount Formin (2,657 m) Mount Cernera (2,657 m) Becco di Mezodì (2,603 m) Mount Verdal (2,491 m) La Rocchetta (2,469 m) Corvo Alto (2,455 m) Col Piombin (2,313 m)
Extraordinary number and variety of vertical walls and pale-colored rock surfaces. The massifs can be classified into geometric figures like prisms, cones and parallelepipeds, and their aesthetic value inspired words and images through the ages.
An extraordinary stratigraphic continuity, a high extrinsic and intrinsic geodiversity typical of the so-called Dolomite Landscape.
Pelmo and Croda da Lago are the first of the nine components forming the serial property of the Dolomites, included by UNESCO on the World Heritage List. The area is located in the province of Belluno, between the territories of Cadore, Zoldano and Ampezzano. The area was chosen not only for its scenic beauty, but also for its scientific and geological value
The area of Pelmo and Croda da Lago stretches between the valleys Valle del Boite, Val Zoldana, Val Fiorentina, Val Codalonga and Val Costeana, and runs along a NW-SE direction. The main section comprises Forcella Ambrizzola, with Becco del Mezzodì on the south and Croda da Lago on the north, Federa Lake (also called Lago da Lago), and the Giau Pass.
Mount Pelmo, which towers over this area of the Dolomites World Heritage Site, has two main peaks: Pelmo on the north and Pelmetto on the south. Croda da Lago rises in the southern section of the Ampezzano region, between the Giau Pass and the Falzarego Pass, and its shape, with many pinnacles, resembles a gothic cathedral.
From a geomorphological point of view, Mount Pelmo is maybe one of the most representative massifs of the Dolomites. The view from the Giau Pass in the direction of Croda da Lago is one of the most beautiful and famous of the entire serial property, and the wide variety of massifs forming this system is a perfect example of the effects of plate movement and climate change, especially freeze-thaw cycles.
From a geological point of view, these rocks bear witness to an interval of time spanning about 100 million years. Fossilized dinosaur tracks were found at the feet of Pelmetto and Lastoi di Formin; and the skeleton of a hunter dating from the Mesolithic Age was found in the archaeological site of Mondeval.
The shape of Mount Pelmo reminds of a throne with arms, backrest and headrest, and for this reason locals call it Caregon del Padreterno (God’s Seat).