Tre Cime di Lavaredo

The Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Italian for "Three Peaks"), also called the Drei Zinnen (German), are three distinctive battlement-like peaks, in the Auronzo Dolomites of northeastern Italy. They are probably one of the best-known mountain groups in the Alps. The three peaks, from east to west, are known as the Cima Piccola/Kleine Zinne ("Little Peak"), Cima Grande/Große Zinne ("Big Peak") and Cima Ovest/Westliche Zinne ("Western Peak"). They are built... more

The Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Italian for "Three Peaks"), also called the Drei Zinnen (German), are three distinctive battlement-like peaks, in the Auronzo Dolomites of northeastern Italy. They are probably one of the best-known mountain groups in the Alps. The three peaks, from east to west, are known as the Cima Piccola/Kleine Zinne ("Little Peak"), Cima Grande/Große Zinne ("Big Peak") and Cima Ovest/Westliche Zinne ("Western Peak"). They are built of well-layered dolostones of the Dolomia Principale (Hauptdolomit) formation, Carnian to Rhaetian in age, as many other groups in the Dolomites (e.g., the Tofane, the Pelmo or the Five towers). Until 1919 the peaks formed part of the border between Italy and Austria. Now they lie on the border between the Italian provinces of Bolzano-Bozen and Belluno and still are a part of the linguistic boundary between German-speaking and Italian-speaking majorities. The largest of the peaks has an elevation of 2,999 metres (9,839 ft). It stands between... less