Earth columns, some of them having on their tops boulders like some stone hats are rising from Italy’s Northen abrupt valleys. At first sight, the earth pyramids from Ritten seem to be a joke of nature. On this rocky side of South Tyrol. rocky stones are floating above the trees, balancing on the top of some red, yellow and purple columns.

The columns are wide on the base, but they are narrowing on the top. Some of them are short and thick, but others can reach even 40 meters tall. These formations are the result of the moving glaciers in the Ice Age. Along with this process, hundreds of stones of various sizes were detached from the glacier’s body.There are three groups of earth pyramids on Mount Ritten’s mountainside, on the valley of the Isarco river. But these natural wonders could not be visited by the whole world until 1907, the year when the railroad to Ritten (the village) was completed.

The area is well known also for its multicultural characteristic. The city of Ritten, the main village around the earth columns, is located about 1200 meters above Bolzano (the capital of the province) and has a colorful history, polticially speaking. South Tirol was before the First World War part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, therefore the places around here have both Italian and Austrian names: Ritten is translated Renon in Italian, Bolzano is called Bozen by the Austrians and the Isarco River is also called Eisack. Also, on these lands, you can hear Italian, German and also Ladin.

On a geological scale of time, the earth pyramids are really miracles. Their life period is still a mystery, although we know that some of them suffer imperceptible changes over decades. One thing is clear, though: once a columns is losing its top stone, it will disintegrate rapidly. While the climate destroys some of the earth pyramids, the rain is ruining others. Not too long in the future, these amazing Italian earth pyramids could be just a pleasant memory.

Image credit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

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