The Dolomites: A UNESCO World Heritage Site Since 2009

When did the Dolomites become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and why?

In 2009, Italy’s Dolomites were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, joining the world’s most remarkable natural and cultural wonders. The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s World Heritage Committee unanimously approved Italy’s bid at its meeting in Seville, Spain, recognizing the Dolomites for their exceptional natural beauty and their outstanding geological significance.

The nine Dolomite mountain groups span roughly 231,000 hectares (about 142,000 hectares of core mountain groups, plus surrounding buffer zones) and are spread over five provinces: Trento, Bolzano, Belluno, Pordenone, and Udine. They were recognized on two grounds: their extraordinary natural beauty, with pale limestone peaks, sheer rock walls, and dramatic spires, and their global geological importance. The rock preserves a record of ancient tropical seas and coral reefs, revealing how these mountains formed over some 250 million years, long before they were uplifted from the sea.

The nine groups include the Pelmo and Croda da Lago mountains in the Veneto region between the Cadore, Zoldano and Ampezzo valleys; the Marmolada massif between the Trentino and Veneto regions, boasting the highest peak in the Dolomites (3,343m / 10,968') and the largest glacier; the Pale di San Martino, Pale di San Lucano and the Belluno Dolomites, mostly in the Veneto region but partially in the Trentino region; the Friuli Dolomites and Oltre Piave mountains, the furthest to the east and divided between the Friuli provinces of Pordenone and Udine; the Northern Dolomites between Alto Adige and the Veneto regions, including the Cadini peaks, the pale mountains of the Sesto Dolomites, the austere Ampezzo Dolomites, and the lunar Dolomites of Fanes, Senes and Braies; the Puez-Odle mountains in the Alto Adige region, now a splendid natural park; the Sciliar, Catinaccio and Latemar mountains between Alto Adige and Trentino; the Brenta Dolomites, the furthest to the west, still home to the brown bear and all in the Trentino; and the Rio delle Foglie (Bletterbach), a deep gorge whose exposed rock layers reveal what the climate and the environment were like 250 million years ago.

Italy’s bid was endorsed in May by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the World Heritage Committee’s advisory body on natural sites. When they were inscribed, the Dolomites joined the only other Italian natural site on the list at the time, the volcanic Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands) off Sicily, inscribed in 2000. Italy now counts six natural World Heritage Sites, from Mount Etna (2013) to the most recent addition, the Evaporitic Karst and Caves of the Northern Apennines, inscribed in 2023.

So where exactly are the Dolomites, and why visit?

They lie in northeastern Italy, part of the Southern Limestone Alps, across the regions of Trentino-Alto Adige, the Veneto, and Friuli Venezia Giulia, and they remain one of the finest mountain destinations in the world.

Ready to experience the UNESCO Dolomites for yourself? Explore our guided and self-guided hiking journeys through the heart of these legendary mountains.

Want to experience them in winter? Discover our snowshoeing and winter hiking journeys.