Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Bracketing the northeast corner of Italy, the Dolomites are known for breathtaking vistas that make it an alluring wedding destination.
Each year, 2.2 million Americans visit Italy. Of course, we haven’t spoken to all of them, but our informal survey tells us that many of them never heard of the Dolomites and even fewer would be able to point them out on a map. Nonetheless, the Dolomite mountain range, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is arguably one of the most beautiful places in the world.
During World War I, Italy and Austria fought over the Tyrolian region, a section of Austria along their common border. After the war, Italy was awarded the southern section of Tyrol as part of the peace treaty of St. Germain. South Tyrol (Sud Tyrol) is where the Dolomites rise.
The mountain range stretches across the northeastern corner of Italy in the regions of Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It forms part of the Southern Limestone Alps. The Dolomites get their name from the 18th-century mineralogist De’odat Gratet de Dolomieu, who was the first to catalog the carbonite that suffuses the range.
In ancient times, the Tyrol valleys were settled by Celts, Noricans from southwest Umbria and Venetians. The Romans conquered the area in 15 B.C. and occupied it for 500 years. Although the indigenous people maintained many of their native tongues during that time, an adulterated form of Latin evolved as a consequence of the semi-literate Roman magistrates and soldiers assigned to the region. The language is called Ladin. When the Roman Empire collapsed, Austrian-German speakers eventually dominated the area, although Ladin has also been spoken continuously there for the past 1,000 years. With annexation by Italy after World War I, Italian, of course, became a third language. Today, many people are bi- or trilingual but more than two-thirds of them consider German to be their primary language, especially in the provinces of Bolzano and Trento. About 25 percent of the people speak Italian as their mother tongue and about 4 percent still consider themselves Ladin speakers.
Being that the people of Sud Tyrol were German-speaking Austrians, the postwar annexation by Italy created political and ethnic stress, some of which still exists today. In the 1920s, Benito Mussolini made matters worse by trying to “Italianize” the region by force. It was forbidden, for example, to speak German in public, and German schools were banned. Names of streets and public places were changed to Italian, and some people were compelled to change their own names to be more Italian-sounding. Mussolini encouraged Italians to relocate to Sud Tyrol, attempting to change the ethnic mix, while making it more difficult for German speakers to find work. Generally, the people of Sud Tyrol were not happy being dominated by Italy and wanted their land to be given back to Austria. That sentiment diminished a few notches, however, when Hitler and the Nazi party came to power in 1933, at which point Italy suddenly became the lesser of the two evils.
Tensions diminished a great deal in 1972, when the Italian government signed a comprehensive autonomy agreement with Sud Tyrol, giving them many powers of self-rule and dramatically reducing their tax obligation to the Italian republic. Any disputes that remain today are relatively minor but are rooted in the deep divide you would expect to have when territorial borders are redrawn as a result of war. Meanwhile, Sud Tyrol has become one of the wealthiest regions in Italy due to its excellent agricultural climate and robust tourism industry.
These days, the Dolomites are enjoyed not only by Italians but also by residents of neighboring Austria and tourists from around the world. The range serves mostly as a staging ground for outdoor activities such as mountaineering, hunting, rock climbing, skiing, hiking and cycling. There are also a few open-air military museums in the area for those who are interested in the battles that took place during the first world war.
The predominant religion in Sud Tyrol is Roman Catholic and the churches come in all sizes, reflecting the communities they serve and the era in which they were built. The style of the churches mainly varies from 14th-century Romanesque, with its tall, narrow steeples, to 16th-century Baroque. The Baroque style, with its onion-shaped domes made of copper sheet, might remind you of Eastern Orthodox churches. The common element is simplicity and a lack of any Gothic influence.
If you’re intrigued by the Alpine lifestyle, the towns and villages that dot the Dolomites offer spacious homes to buy or rent. Towns like Pieve di Cadore, Longarone, Valle di Cadore and Cortina d’Ampezzo all welcome you with tidy streets, enchanting neighborhoods, quality restaurants and an overall upscale living environment. We were there in the summertime but there is no question that Dolomite homes are well-prepared for winter, with giant floor-to-ceiling ceramic ovens, metal roofs to handle the snow and indoor swimming pools.
Although there is plenty to do in the Dolomites, what draws people there is the scenery. Every turn of the head presents a different vista, either looking up at the mountaintops or down at villages nestled in lush green valleys. In fact, what brought us there was a destination wedding in our family. What attracted the bride and groom to the area was its majestic beauty and the chance for an experience of a lifetime. The happy couple are Abby Bradford of Rockford, Illinois, and third-generation Italian American Nicholas Pomella, who grew up in Palatine, Illinois.
Imagine starting at 4,016 feet above sea level in the center of Cortina d’Ampezzo and riding to a wedding venue inside a luxurious cable car that takes you another 1,817 feet to a mountain plateau. The only thing on the plateau is the Masi Wine Bar, with its open-air accommodations. From there, you have a 360-degree view of adjacent mountains and valleys. Although there is no chapel or stained-glass windows, there is also no question you are in God’s house as you look out at all that surrounds you. The violin and harp music performed by two members of the Padua Symphony Orchestra completed the magical ambience of the nuptials, and the endless entrées served by the Masi Wine Bar after the ceremony left no taste buds ignored. The experience was completed by a nighttime cable-car ride down the hill, with the evening lights of Cortina d’Ampezzo putting on the final act. It was fabulous.
If you want to get acquainted with the Dolomites, you will soon have an opportunity that offers quite a bonus. Sud Tyrol, along with Milan and a few other places in northeast Italy, will be the home of the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Cortina d’Ampezzo will, in fact, host the alpine skiing, biathlon and curling events.
Whether it be a destination wedding, the Olympic Games or just a unique vacation experience, the Dolomites can make for a spectacular and very unique Italian holiday.
The article above appears in the July 2025 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.
