Lago di Misurina

The Lago di Misurina is the largest natural lake of the Ampezzo Dolomites and lies at around 1,750 m. Its still water reflects the surrounding peaks, among them the Sorapis and the nearby Tre Cime, whose toll road begins here. The exceptionally pure mountain air made Misurina an early recognised health resort.

Highlights

• Reflection of the Dolomite peaks in the still lake
• Starting point of the toll road to the Tre Cime
• High-altitude resort with especially pure air
• Easy lakeside loop with panorama

Good to know

Practical info

Background & History

Lake Misurina lies at around 1,750 metres altitude in the midst of the Sexten and Ampezzo Dolomites and, on still mornings, mirrors the famous rock silhouette of the Tre Cime, that landmark of the Dolomites which rises a few kilometres away. Its name lives on in an old Ladin legend that tells of a girl named Misurina and her father, the king Sorapis, who out of love transformed himself into a mountain, while the tears for the dead daughter filled the lake.

Beyond the tourist idyll, Misurina attained medical importance: the exceptionally pure mountain air, low in pollen and allergens, made the place a recognised healing climate for children with respiratory diseases, and on the shore a clinic of its own was established for young asthma sufferers, which exists to this day. The surrounding peaks are built up of ancient dolomite rock, a petrified coral reef of earlier seas, which gave the entire mountain group its name, named after the French naturalist Déodat de Dolomieu. From Misurina a steep toll road also leads up to the hut below the Tre Cime, one of the most-visited viewpoints in the Alps. Thus at this high-lying lake the myths of the Ladin mountain dwellers, the history of high-altitude medicine and the geological wonder of a reef raised up from the sea all meet.