Schlern-Rosengarten

The Schlern-Rosengarten / Sciliar-Catinaccio Nature Park is located in the western South Tyrol Dolomites and is South Tyrol’s oldest nature park. Schlern / Sciliar mountain is an impressive formation which, together with Santner and Euringer columns, counts as one of the major landmarks of South Tyrol. The Rosengarten / Catinaccio massif, with its countless columns, is also renowned beyond the borders of South Tyrol. One of the Rosengarten / Catinaccio massif’s peaks, known as Kesselkogel / Catinaccio d’Antermoia, rises to a height of 3,002 m. The park also contains Seis / Siusi, Völs / Fié, Tiers / Tires and Tschamintal / Val Ciamin forests. The Nature Park, which was established in 1974 and extends over an area of around 7,288 ha, encompasses the villages of Kastelruth / Castelrotto, Tiers / Tires and Völs am Schlern / Fié allo Sciliar. The Nature Park is part of the European-wide Natura 2000 sites 2000 and is also part of the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Schlern-Rosengarten / Sciliar-Catinaccio Nature Park - Ancient cultures and new perspectives Few other areas of the Dolomites exhibit the annals of their formation as vividly as the Schlern / Sciliar region. The formation of its varied landscapes is due to rock-forming reefs as well as powerful volcanic eruptions below the surface of the Tertiary Mediterranean Paleotethys. The Schlern region owes its topography to its geological formations. The Schlern / Sciliar Dolomite – a Dolomite rock named after this mountain – is a reef stone consisting of algae and corals that comprise the rock faces of the Western Dolomites with their many crevices and chimneys. On the Seis / Siusi, Völs / Fié and Tiers / Tires sides, Schlern / Sciliar mountain is framed by mixed coniferous forests. The Forest of Hauenstein / Castelvecchio, situated in northeast Seis / Siusi, mainly consists of spruces and larches and, to a lesser extent, also of Scots pines, firs, ashes, birches and mountain-ashes. Völser Weiher / Laghetto di Fié pond, which is located inside the park, is surrounded by Scots pine woods. There are also cembra pines on the Völs / Fié side. The rear portions of Tschafon and Tschamin / Ciamin valleys are covered with high lying forests of spruces, larches and Scots pines. Legends and bog findings suggest that Seiser / Sciliar Alpine pasture and the Schlern / Sciliar area were completely covered by coniferous forests for thousands of years. These forests, which reached an altitude of at least 2,200 m, fell victim to slash and burn agriculture whose pastures now form a colorful carpet of heath lands, meadows and boggy areas. The park is part of the European-wide Natura 2000 sites, which aim to promote habitat, flora and fauna conservation and were established under the EU’s FFH Directive (92/43/EC) and Bird’s Directive (2009/147/EC).