Welcome to the UNESCO World Heritage Site
Now it's official: On 26.06.09 the Braies Dolomites in South Tyrol's Pusteria Valley became an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Dolomites are unique. They were originally coral reefs that were formed in the primeval tropical sea through sedimentation in the Triassic period about 250 million years ago.
As the European and African plates moved towards one another (as they continue to do today) the Alps arose, of which the Dolomites are a part. This mountain range takes its name from Déodat de Dolomieu (1750 - 1801), a French geologist who was the first person to describe the unusual dolomitic rock. Previously the Dolomites were known as the "pale mountains" ("bleiche Berge" - "Monti pallidi"), which according to legend had been given their moon-pale complexion by dwarves with magical powers in order to assuage the homesickness of the Moon Princess.
The craggy peaks and gentle plateaux that you can reach on foot from Hotel Trenker, your hotel on Lake Braies, are steeped in myths and legend, as is the alpenglow, the red glowing of the Dolomites in the evening. A spurned dwarf king cursed his beloved roses so that they would be seen neither by day or by night. But he forgot the time between time, dusk, during which we can still today sense the garden with its red roses in full bloom.
The Braies Dolomites are protected by the Fanes-Sennes-Braies Nature Park that was set up in 1980. The nature park sets great store by keeping nature intact, so building development has been stopped. Many plants and animals are classified as protected because they are found almost only here. The rare plants include Androsace hausmannii (Dolomitenmannsschild), Eritrichium nanum (Himmelsherold), Pulsatilla apiifolia (Schwefelgelbe Anemone), Potentilla nitida (Dolomitenfingerkraut), Phyteuma (Frauenspeik) and many more. These are all measures for protecting the natural world that are in full harmony with our efforts to provide "green holidays".