Ortisei / St. Ulrich in Val Gardena in South Tyrol
Welcome to Ortisei (in German: Sankt Ulrich, in Ladin Urtijëi)
Ortisei is the main municipality of
Val Gardena
(Gardena Valley)
and lies at a height of 1.236 m. It is embedded in a beautiful
coomb between the plain slope of the Hochalm Raschötz and the
wooded steep slopes of the famous Seiser Alm.
Ortisei is, coming
from Waidbruck, the first municipality in Val Gardena,
if one drives in the direction of
Selva Gardena
(german: Wolkenstein),
which lies at the end of the valley.
Ortisei and the Dolomites
Ortisei lies
amidst the alpine scenery of the Dolomites, which are
perhaps the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world. The Dolomites
substantiate the reputation of Ortsei and Val Gardena
as a holiday region of unparallelld beauty.
This extremely beautiful mountain range of the Southern Alps has
been declared world
cultural heritage
by UNESCO in 2009. Numerous hiking tours with various degrees of
difficulty lead through the Dolomites, such as the well-known
Dolomite high-level trail.
Naming
The german name of Ortisei, „St. Ulrich”, goes back to the patron
saint of the place, Saint Ulrich, to whom the Roman Catholic
vicarage has been dedicated.
In Gröden’s official language, Ladin, the place is called
“Urtijei”. Like the Italian name “Ortisei”, the Ladin name
can be traced back to an estate (so called Meiershof) at the
centre named “Ortiseyt”, which has been documented in the
archives since the 13th century, and today ranks among the
oldest estates in Val Gardena.
Transport interlinkage
Up to 1960 there was a train link with the town of Klausen, situated
in the Eisack Valley at the entrance to Val Gardena. The so called
“Grödnerbahn” run as a narrow gauge railway 31 km into Val Gardena
and was equipped with a steam locomotive.
The enormous spread of the automobile in the late 60’s finally led
to the closure of the local railroad and due to the FIS-competition
1970 the road line was significantly expanded at the end of the 70’s,
so that a further foundation had been laid for the developing tourism.
There is an excellent bus connection to Klausen or Bolzano.
Ortisei can also be reached comfortably by car in half an hour from
Bolzano.
