The morphology of Val di Fassa

The Val di Fassa basin originates from the Ice Age; in fact 40 million years ago the valley was completely submerged in ice.

The formation of the mountains that characterise this enchanting place is due to two different factors: the constitution of organic rocks thanks to the sedimentation of coral and mussels when the area was submerged in a tropical ocean, and the formation of volcanic rocks such as those that compose the Buffaure Col Bel Groups and the Padon chain.

To the orographic right, the valley is enclosed by the Padon chain (2734 m), the Sella massif (3151 m), the Sassolungo group (3181 m) and the Rosengarten Group (3004 m). On the left there are the Marmolada group (3.342 m), Ombretta and Sasso Vernale (3.054 m).  

The origin of the name Fassa

The origin of the name Fassa is subject to several interpretations. Ancient documents discovered in the area have reported that the valley used to have different names.

One of these is ‘Eveis’, a name found on a document in German which probably originated from the ancient name of the Avisio River, Nevisius, and the other is ‘Fascia’. There are those, such as the great historian and scholar of the Fassa community, Father Frumenzio Ghetta, that claim this latter derives from the first shepherds that turned over a first layer of earth to cultivate it, and named it with the toponym ‘fassa’. As other ‘fasse’ or layers were then cultivated, the name Fassa was extended to refer to the entire valley.