While the Dolomites are known the world over for unbelievable scenery, great food, and world class skiing, many do not know of a darker chapter of their history that occurred here almost 100 years ago.

It seems difficult to image men fighting a war in this beautiful setting, but the Falzarego pass area that connects Val Gardena to Cortina d’Ampezzo was for a while the front line of WWI, and thus the site of a horrible and protracted battle.

The Austro-Hungarians were well entrenched at the top of Mount Lagazuoi, at over 9,000 feet. The Italians obviously suffered great losses trying to take the Falzarego pass “below” so to speak (6,900 feet), impossible under the artillery fire from above.

The battle eventually became a series of drawn out, tedious, and nerve-wracking engineering projects, each side tunneling under their opponent’s positions with the objective of placing and then detonating mines. Diaries of many of the soldiers tell of the insanity that would creep in at night, in the cold of winter, in their stone crow’s nests, not sure whether they were imagining or actually hearing the sound of drill bits a few feet below them inside the rock.

After a few unsuccessful attempts by both sides, the Italians finally managed to bore almost 2,000 feet upwards into Mount Lagazuoi from below. A few meters below the Austro-Hungarian main position they placed and detonated 14 tons of dynamite. Even today you’ll notice the scar of the missing section of this beautiful mountain peak.

Many of the artillery tunnels in the area however are still intact and can be easily visited. While they affording breathtaking views of the valleys below, they are nonetheless silent testimony to this darker moment in history.