CORTINA
Cortina is beautifully situated on the left bank of the River Botta, with the fine Tre Croci Pass (which takes its name from the three large wooden crucifixes) opening away behind the town eastward, and the Tre Sassi Pass widening out before it westward. The town is the principal one in the commune of Ampezzo, and is surrounded by stupendous heights and grand snow-clad mountains, amongst which are some of the most splendid of the Dolomites. For years past Cortina has been so considerable a resort of tourists and rest-seekers that splendid accommodation is nowadays obtainable; and one of the first impressions made by the place upon the traveller who comes to it after that of its picturesqueness is its prosperity. It is far cleaner, too, than most Italian or semi-Italian towns of its type. Though the climate is so favourable—even in the coldest of winters the thermometer seldom falls far below freezing-point—the soil of the district is very poor, and the appearance of most of the mountain-sides and valleys is bleak. There is in consequence little agriculture and no cultivation of the vine in the immediate neighbourhood of Cortina. Indeed, throughout the Ampezzo Thal pasturage and timber-felling, and not agriculture, are the chief industries, although wood-carving and the manufacture of gold and silver filigree work is carried on to a very considerable extent.
The festivals and fairs of the district are amongst the most important of south-eastern Tyrol, and at them one still sees many of the charming peasant costumes which have had here, as elsewhere, a tendency to die out. The huge silver-headed hairpins of the girls form a particularly noticeable feature of their elaborately and neatly plaited coiffures.
The main street of Cortina is a sunny and picturesque one, many of the houses possessing quaint, irregular roofs, and the church, little piazza, and hostelries making up a charming picture, with a beautiful vista of pastures and mountain summits at the end of the street.
The church, with its stately detached campanile, from the gallery of which, nearly 250 feet above the level of the street, there is a fine and extensive view of the town and valley, is one of the largest for many miles around, and contains, amongst other things, an unusually handsome altar, and some beautiful wood-carvings by Brustolone. The churchyard (unless recently altered) is a desolate though a picturesque spot, unfortunately a standing memorial of indifference for the memory of those who have passed away, and irreverent neglect.
All who reach Cortina, whether they stay long or merely for a few hours, should go to the Aquila Nera Inn, if only to see the interesting and varied paintings of two of the sons of a former proprietor named Ghedina which adorn the walls of the dining-room, staircase, the outside of the "Dependance," and even the whitewashed walls of the outhouses and stables. The subjects are of great variety, displaying in many cases much technical skill and imaginative gifts, and comprise military and religious figures and designs, grotesques, and on the walls of the square-built and solid-looking Dependance are some large groups representing painting, sculpture, architecture, and other domestic subjects, especially noticeable being the painter-like and clever manner in which modern objects, such as telegraphic instruments, cameras, steam-engines, etc., have been handled.
From the top of the campanile, in which are hung great bells, one has the village and the valley spread out at one's feet, with the Ampezzo Thal stretching north and south and the passes of Tre Croci and Tre Sassi stretching east and west.
BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS
In the valleys surrounding Cortina there are many beautiful wild flowers and specimens of Alpine flora, amongst the most noticeable of which are the wild daphne and the smaller mountain gentian; we fancy, too, that in another very beautiful though small pink flower with waxen petals, which grew in large clusters, we found the Androsace glacialis, although two botanically learned friends differed as to the correct name of this charming specimen.
On the way to Cortina via Schluderbach one can, by branching off southward soon after leaving the village, reach, either on foot through the woods or by a good carriage road through the Val Popena, the beautiful and nowadays much-frequented Lake Misurina, in which the peaks of the Drei Zinnen and the tree-clad lower slopes of environing hills are charmingly reflected. The lake, although of comparatively small size, is justly considered one of the most beautiful in Alpine regions, and on its banks several large hotels have already been erected for the accommodation of the increasing number of visitors who come to this quiet and lovely spot which lies nearly 6000 feet above sea-level.