Eyes closed. Listen closely.

The Legend of King Laurin

Why do the Dolomites glow red in the evening?

Night is falling. Outside, the rocks of the Dolomites begin to turn a shade of pink. The red gets more intense by the minute. Eventually, they glow a rich scarlet, as if someone had lit a fire. The children are amazed: why do the mountains glow red like that? Now, everyone come a bit closer, because there’s an ancient legend that tells you all about it (and how Mt Catinaccio/Rosengarten got its German name): the legend of King Laurin and his Rose Garden.

The Dwarf King and his Roses
A long, long time ago, a dwarven people lived deep in the Dolomites. Diligent and nimble, they dug in the mountains for gold and sparkling gemstones. Their king was called Laurin, and he lived in a palace made entirely of rock crystal, deep beneath the rock face. He possessed two marvellous objects: a cloak of invisibility that made him disappear as soon as he put it on, and a belt that gave him the strength of twelve men. His greatest pride, however, was his mountain rose garden. Thousands of red roses bloomed amidst the grey rock, bound together by a single golden silk thread.

One day, Laurin caught sight of the beautiful Princess Similde and fell in love with her at once. Without further ado, he put on the invisibility cloak and whisked her away to his crystal kingdom. Similde’s knights set off for the mountains to free her. There was a battle. When Laurin realised he was in danger of losing, he pulled the invisibility cloak over his head. And in the blink of an eye, he was invisible! He jumped back and forth, to and fro. No one could catch him. But the knights were clever. They watched the roses very closely and saw how the petals moved whenever Laurin scurried past them. And they caught him. They tore the magic belt to shreds and took the king prisoner. At that moment, he turned round one last time and cursed his garden, which had betrayed him. No one should ever see the roses again – neither by day nor by night. There was just one thing he didn’t think of in his anger: twilight, that brief period between day and night.

And that is why, as the South Tyroleans say, his rose garden – Mt Catinaccio/Rosengarten – still glows for a few minutes every evening as the sun sets. By the way, the Ladin people call this glow Enrosadira. The real reason is the composition of the dolomite rock, which reflects the warm evening light particularly beautifully.

Want more legends and magical moments? We have plenty of them at the Familienhotels Südtirol. Come and visit us!

The Kofler family
Adventure Family Hotel Maria

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