One of the most famous Dolomite legends tells of the king’s daughter Dolasilla and the legendary Kingdom of Fanes
Image gallery: Legend: The Kingdom of Fanes
The Kingdom of Fanes, the legendary realm of Ladinia, was supported by powerful forces. On the side of the male representatives of the royal house were the eagles, which enabled them to expand their great empire more and more. On the side of the female representatives, including the king's daughter Dolasilla, were the marmots.
Dolasilla, the war heroine of the epic, had a white armour and a number of unerring arrows: If the armour ever turned black, she would not be allowed to go into battle, as she would then die. Ey de Net (Night Eye) wanted to marry the beautiful king's daughter, but was disowned for it by her father. Finally, the most important battle approached and the sorcerer Spina de Mul, a half-decayed mule skeleton, managed to take Dolasilla's arrows. As a result, her armour turned black.
Nevertheless, she went into battle. The enemies did not recognise Dolasilla at first, because they were looking for a white armour. Finally, however, they saw her and she died in the hail of her own arrows. The queen was able to retreat with some marmots at the last second into the underground tunnels of the Fanes, but the king turned into stone and can still be seen today as "falza rego" (Italian for "false king") at the Falzarego Pass. But there was still one last hope: Lidsanel. He had three wishes, but each time he forgot to wish back the unerring arrows. So members of the kingdom still live underground with the marmots, waiting for their return...