At 1.224m above sea level in the heart of the Dolomites, which are part of the UNESCO’s World Heritage since the 29th of June 2009, is located Cortina d'Ampezzo.
The natural beauty of “Queen of the Dolomites” is irresistible both to visitors looking to break the frenzy of today’s way of living within the peaceful mountain environment and to those in search of superb sports facilities, both in winter and in summer.
The wide Ampezzo basin, encircled by splendid peaks such as the Tofane, the Faloria, the Cristallo and the Cinque Torri, is one of most exclusive destinations in the world.
In the early 1860s Cortina d’Ampezzo attracted European Alpine enthusiasts, who began coming here to stay in the town's first hotels and at the beginning of the 20th century the first ski competitions were host. In 1909, the completion of the first road in and out of the town, the magnificent “Strada delle Dolomiti”, opened the slopes to even more skiers and mountaineers.
In 1903 the local ski club “Sci Club Cortina” was founded.
From year to year it has gained prestige and honour in Italy and abroad. In 1973 it was decorated by the Italian Olympic Committee with the “Stella d’Oro” (gold star) for its sport merits. At present it has almost 500 members and the agonistic team count 130 athletes from 6 to 18 years old.
In 1956 the Winter Olympic Games were hosted, originally they were planned to be hosted in 1944 but due to the second world war the Games were cancelled. The show was perfect: 32 nations participated with 923 athletes; for the first time in the sports history, a woman, Giuliana Minuzzo, read Olympia's oath; remarkable competitive athletes wrote heroic pages, the media reported enthusiastically about the event; last, but not least, the beauty of the mountains completed the scenario. Again for the first time TV broadcasts aired the images of the Ampezzo bowl, shining bright as a pearl, throughout the world.
The most outstanding result were the three gold medals won by the same athlete: Austrian Anton “Tony” Sailer.
Cortina d’Ampezzo native Eugenio Monti won the gold medal in the two-men bobsleigh race and the silver medal in the four-men competition.
Cortina d’Ampezzo is part of the Dolomiti Superski, the biggest ski area in the world with its 1.200 km of slopes divided into 12 zones.
During the winter season more than 600 ski instructors work in the area. Several clubs promote agonistic skiing among the young generation waiting for one of them to be the heir of Alberto Tomba or Kristian Ghedina who started to ski along Cortina’s slopes.
Cortina is an inexhaustible source of thrills and fun: apart from skiing, a whole range of alternative activities are on offer to keep even the most demanding visitor happy. After a hard day on the snow, you can pamper yourself in a cosy traditional hotel or with a visit to a sophisticated craft workshop, a luxury shop or one of the town’s wide range of art galleries or cultural sites.
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