Cortina d'Ampezzo
Cortina d'Ampezzo sometimes abbreviated to simply Cortina, is a town and comune in the heart of the southern Alps in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alpine valley, it is an upscale summer and winter sport resort known for its skiing trails, scenery, accommodation, shops and its jet set dominated après-ski scene.
During the Middle Ages, Ampezzo fell under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Aquileia and of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1420 it was conquered by the Republic of Venice. From 1508, it then spent much of its history under Habsburg rule, briefly undergoing some territorial changes under Napoleon, before being returned to the Austrian Empire, which held it until 1918. From the 19th century, Cortina d'Ampezzo became a notable regional centre for crafts. The local handmade products were appreciated by early British and German holidaymakers as tourism emerged in the late 19th century. Among the specializations of the town were crafting wood for furniture, the production of tiled stoves, and iron, copper and glass items.
Today, the local economy thrives on tourism, particularly during the winter season, when the population of the town typically increases from about 7,000 to 40,000. The Basilica Minore dei Santi Filippo e Giacomo was built between 1769 and 1775 on the site of two former 13th- and 16th-century churches; it is home to the parish and the deanery of Cortina d'Ampezzo. The town also contains the Rinaldo Zardini Palaeontology Museum, established in 1975, the Mario Rimoldi Modern Art Museum, and the Regole of Ampezzo Ethnographic Museum.
Although Cortina d'Ampezzo was unable to go ahead with the scheduled 1944 Winter Olympics because of World War II, it hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 and subsequently a number of world winter-sports events. Cortina d'Ampezzo will host the Winter Olympics for a second time when it co-hosts the 2026 Winter Olympics with Milan. The town is home to SG Cortina, a top league professional ice hockey team, and Cortina d'Ampezzo is also the start and end point of the annual Dolomites Gold Cup Race.
Several films have been shot in the town, most notably The Pink Panther, For Your Eyes Only, and Cliffhanger.
History
Prehistory
The discovery in 1987 of a primitive tomb at Mondeval de Sora high up in the mountains to the south of Cortina testifies to the presence of Mesolithic humans in the area as far back as the 6th millennium B.C. In the 6th century B.C., Etruscan writing was introduced in the province of Cadore, in whose possession it remained until the early 5th century. From the 3rd century B.C., the Romans assimilated the Raeti and Veneti people, giving the area the name of Amplitium, today's Ampezzo.Middle Ages to 19th century
No historical information exists on the Cadore region from the fall of the Roman Empire until the Lombard period. It is assumed that during the Barbarian invasions, the inhabitants fled to the Fassa, Badia, Cordevole and Ampezzo valleys.In the Middle Ages, Ampezzo fell under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Aquileia and of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1420, the village was conquered by the Republic of Venice. In 1508 it was conquered by the Habsburgs, and by 1511 people of Ampezzo swore loyalty to the Emperor Maximilian, and that area was subsequently adjoined to the region of Pusterthal. In 1797, when the Treaty of Campo Formio was signed, Napoleon initially permitted the Habsburg Empire to retain it, but in 1810 he added Ampezzo to the Department of Piave, following an attack on the town in which it was burned by the French. It was short-lived; the Austrian Empire reclaimed it in 1813, and it remained in its possession even after the battles of Custoza and Sadowa in 1866 when Venice was ceded to Italy. The town gained a reputation as a health resort; it was reportedly free of diseases such as cholera.
In 1874 the Ampezzo forest became the property of the Carnic Woods Consortium. Although remaining an Austrian possession until 1920, aside from being home for an ethnic German-speaking minority, Ampezzo never became a German-speaking territory and conserved its original language Ladin, a Rhaeto-Romance language.
20th century
When Italy entered World War I in 1915, most of the male inhabitants were fighting for Austria-Hungary on the Russian front. 669 male inhabitants tried to fight the Italian troops. Outnumbered by the Italians, they had to retreat. After the Austrian recovery in 1917, the town was occupied again by the Tyrolean Standschützen.Following Italy's victory in World War I, Ampezzo was definitively ceded to Italy in 1920. Three years later, it was separated from Tyrol and incorporated into the province of Belluno, itself part of the Veneto region.
After World War I the city was renamed "Cortina d'Ampezzo", adopting the name of one of the six villages that made up the territory of Ampezzo, located in the middle of the Ampezzo valley. Cortina d'Ampezzo was designated as a major redoubt and held a large ammunition storage depot. In 1945 it was assigned as a holdout by Italian and German troops to prevent the Americans and British from advancing into Austria. The town and the depot were scheduled to be attacked on 26 April 1945. Only last-minute weather prevented this strike by the 15th AF / 49th BW.
Winter sport resort destination
Already an elite destination for the first British tourists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, after World War I Cortina d'Ampezzo became a resort for upper-class Italians, too. Cortina d'Ampezzo was chosen as the venue of the 1944 Winter Olympic Games, which did not take place due to World War II. After hosting the 1956 Winter Olympics, Cortina grew into a world-famous resort experiencing a substantial increase in tourism. With a resident population of 6,150 people in 2008, Cortina has a temporary population of around 50,000 during peak periods such as the Christmas holidays and mid-August. The central Piazza Angelo Dibona and the Corso Italia are cobbled and are absolutely car-free zones. The resort offers 120 km of pistes divided into three separate ski areas. Faloria-Cristallo, Tofana-Socrepes, and Cinque Torri-Lagazuoi each have their own ambient design. Lagazuoi is linked to the Sella Ronda ski area with another 400 km of pistes. These ski areas are linked with buses, lifts, and pistes that must be skied. The Cortina ski school was founded in 1933, and there is also a cross-country school benefiting from 70 km of cross-country trails that are not very demanding. The Ford Cortina, the UK's best-selling car of the 1970s, was named after Cortina d'Ampezzo.21st-century politics
In 2002 the Ampezzaner rifle company Ŝizar Anpezo Hayden was brought back to life. Since Otto von Habsburg, the then head of the Habsburg family, visited Cortina in 2005, their patron has been Charles I of Austria. Especially because of the eventful history, the Habsburg brand is still very present in Cortina in the 21st century, as many pictures and photos of Franz Joseph I of Austria and of Charles I, who is particularly revered here, in inns, restaurants, bars and hotels testify. Since 2011 there has been a memorial for Maximilian I on the main square in memory of the year 1511 and the union of the Ampezzo valley basin with Tyrol.The town voted in October 2007 to secede from the region of Veneto and join the neighbouring region, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. This was motivated by cultural ties with the Ladin-speaking community in South Tyrol and the attraction of lower taxes. The referendum is not executive, and a final decision on the matter can only be made by law from the Italian parliament with consent of both regional councils of Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.
In the European elections of 2014, the leading party was the Democratic Party with 30.4% of the vote, followed by Forza Italia and the autonomist Südtiroler Volkspartei with 14.1%.
Geography and climate
Cortina is situated more or less in the centre of the Ampezzo valley, at the top of the Valle del Boite in the Dolomites, which encircle the town. The Boite river flows directly through the town of Cortina itself. The mountains in the area are described as "craggy" and "soaring", "unmistakable; like a massive coral reef ripped from the sea, strung with conifers and laced with snow". The town is positioned between Cadore and the Puster Valley, Val d'Ansiei and Agordo. Originally it consisted of numerous frazioni, isolated villages and hamlets, but from the 1950s it grew rapidly as a result of tourism. Only the most remote villages have remained isolated from the main town. San Vito di Cadore is to the south of Cortina d'Ampezzo.Among the surrounding mountains are Tofane to the west, Pomagagnon to the north, Cristallo to the northeast, Faloria and Sorapiss to the east, and Becco di Mezzodì, Croda da Lago and Cinque Torri to the south. Monte Antelao is at 3264 m the highest mountain in the Ampezzo Dolomites and the second highest in the Dolomites. When the weather is good, Monte Antelao is clearly visible from the rive in Trieste on the Adriatic Sea. The town centre is located at an elevation of, the closest high peak is that of Tofana di Mezzo, which towers at. There are numerous fast flowing rivers, streams and small lakes in the territory, such as the Ghedina, Pianozes and d'Ajal, which fill particularly during the summer snow-melt season. Fauna include marmots, roe deer, chamois and hares and, on occasion, wolves, bears and lynx. Much of the area of Cortina is part of the "Natural Park of the Ampezzo Dolomites".