19. The front line

The Dolomites we know today for their beauty and protection were, just over a century ago, one of the harshest and most dramatic front lines of the First World War. Tunnels carved into rock, underground mines and exposed positions turned these mountains into the stage of an extreme war, fought in inhuman conditions. Historical alpine guide Franz Brunner Pozzi leads Diego Clara through the symbolic sites of the Dolomite front, from Lagazuoi to Col di Lana, telling the story of soldiers—often farmers and shepherds—thrown into an unfamiliar and hostile environment. Through historical accounts, family memories and personal experience, a powerful narrative emerges: one of a war that deeply shaped both the land and its people. A journey into memory that invites us to see the Dolomites not only as a natural heritage, but as a place of sacrifice, respect and peace.