Marmolada

The 2,208 hectares of land divided between the Provinces of Belluno and Trento, make up the Marmolada System, known as the Queen of the Dolomites. This System includes the highest peaks in the whole region, among them Punta Penìa, at 3,343m above sea level, the highest mountain in the Dolomites Unesco World Heritage Site, making this System unique for the beauty of its landscape.

Marmolada is a mountain of contrasts. The softly rolling contours at its foot, covered in woods and meadows, are abruptly broken by the dizzying height of its upper slopes with their pale calcareous rock and breath-taking crags. The northern face, home to the most extensive glacier in the Dolomite region, slopes down gracefully to the banks of the little lake of Fedaia. The southern face is one of the most challenging routes, much appreciated by the world’s mountaineers, a wall of nearly 1,000 metres, starting from the Val Ombretta screes, standing out against vertiginous peaks.

Marmolada 2

Geology

The history of this System is rather disjointed, but nonetheless unique: it tells of the first Dolomite sea and the establishment of an island in the Triassic archipelago until its eventual covering with Ladinian volcanic material. The Marmolada massif is an exceptional example of a pre-volcanic island built from organic matter in which the relationship between the organically constructed sections and the deep sea sediments is preserved in various places. Located at the centre of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Marmolada is known as the Queen of the Dolomites in that it reaches a height of 3,343m at Punta Penia. The northern face is home to the largest glacier in the Dolomites, making it a very special place for observing the formations associated with both past and present glaciation and for further study of glaciology and climatology.

The geology of System 2: Marmolada – PDF

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Mountain huts

Accessible Dolomites

Museums

High quality

Stages of the Dolomites World Heritage Geotrail: 39-41

360° pictures of the Dolomites World Heritage Geotrail: Marmolada

The history of this System is rather disjointed, but nonetheless unique: it tells of the first Dolomite sea and the establishment of an island in the Triassic archipelago until its eventual covering with Ladinian volcanic material. The Marmolada massif is an exceptional example of a pre-volcanic island built from organic matter in which the relationship between the organically constructed sections and the deep sea sediments is preserved in various places. Located at the centre of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Marmolada is known as the Queen of the Dolomites in that it reaches a height of 3,343m at Punta Penia. The northern face is home to the largest glacier in the Dolomites, making it a very special place for observing the formations associated with both past and present glaciation and for further study of glaciology and climatology.

The geology of System 2: Marmolada – PDF

Mountain huts

Accessible Dolomites

Museums

High quality

Stages of the Dolomites World Heritage Geotrail: 39-41

360° pictures of the Dolomites World Heritage Geotrail: Marmolada

South face of the MarmoladaThe avalanche on the 3rd of July 2022.The Marmolada glacier before the serac fall.