Rising a mighty 3220 metres above sea level, Monte Civetta stands in the heart of the Dolomites, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Civetta name was reported for the first time in a document in 1665 as Zuita, while it appears in an official map only from 1774.
The origin of the name is not clear. There are 2 possibilities: the first refers to the latin word civitas, as the wall which looks over Alleghe looks like a towered town; the other refers to the wild rapacious, the owl, also because the mountain in the past was considered damned or as a messenger of bad omens.
The Dolomites, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009, cover an area of 142 thousand hectares of unparalleled beauty.
The morphological and geological importance of these mountains dates back to when the Dolomites were merely a vast, immense plain lying under the waters of a prehistoric ocean.
When the African and continental European tectonic plates collided, the ground was pushed up, creating these magnificent, awe-inspiring mountains. The Dolomites are named after the French geologist Déodat de Dolomieu who was the first to discover their special geological features. These rocks are mainly made up of Dolomia, a sedimentary carbonate rock that is abundant in this part of the world.
The impressive northwest face of Monte Civetta towers over Alleghe and the Cordevole Valley from a height of 3,220 metres.
Climbers refer to it as the “wall of walls”, the only one of its kind in the world with a vertical drop of over 1,000 metres and a length of 4 km.
There are endless routes up it which have gone down in mountaineering history. Monte Civetta, Zuita as the people of Alleghe call it, is a highly coveted challenge among via ferrata and trekking enthusiasts all over the world. The path at the foot of the magnificent massif is part of the Alta Via 1 walking trail, as well as being an important stretch of the Munich-Venice walk. On the slopes of Monte Civetta, nestling between boulders and jagged rocks, is a small lake, Lake Coldai, which was formed in times gone by.
Legend has it that this lake was home to a dragon with large wings, a long black tongue and fiery red flashing eyes.
It rarely ventured out of its lair at the foot of Monte Civetta and when it did, it flew all the way to Lake Fedaia.
Seeing the dragon fly was a sign of bad luck for the people of the valley, however, as they believed it announced an imminent calamity or sad times.
People say the dragon was seen flying just before the Monte Piz landslide which created Lake Alleghe. Many years have passed since then and the dragon has not been spotted since … the inhabitants can rest easy!
People say the dragon was seen flying just before the Monte Piz landslide which created Lake Alleghe. Many years have passed since then and the dragon has not been spotted since … the inhabitants can rest easy!
