Passo Tre Croci - Son Zuógo
Pass · 1809 m · Dolomites
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Passo Tre Croci, at 1809 m in the Ampezzo Dolomites, takes its name from a February 1789 tragedy: a mother and her two children died of exposure near the pass while walking from Auronzo di Cadore to Cortina d'Ampezzo in search of work. Three wooden crosses were raised in their memory. The pass sits between Monte Cristallo and Sorapiss and links the Boite valley to Misurina and Auronzo di Cadore.
The pass carries a second, later layer of military history: in 1940 the Italian army built ten fortified positions here as part of the Vallo Alpino del Littorio, the country's alpine border defense line, six dug into the base of Monte Cristallo and four into Sorapiss. Concrete bunkers, gun emplacements and an anti-tank ditch, now crossed by the modern road, still survive at the pass, overgrown and largely abandoned since the fortifications were decommissioned after the war. A short descent to the north brings Lago di Misurina into view, its water reflecting the grand historic hotels built along its shore. In autumn, the forest around the pass turns gold before the winter snow arrives.
What you see
Monte Cristallo rises to the north in pale, fractured rock walls, snow lodged in its deepest fissures even in summer.
Practical
The road over the pass stays open year-round, though winter conditions can require snow chains.
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