Creation and discovery

It all started with a fragment of rock. Travelling through the Etsch/Isarco Valley in 1789, the French naturalist Déodat de Dolomieu discovered a limestone rock with until then unknown chemical characteristics. This mineral was named after its discoverer: Dolomite.
Mineralogists and geologists from all over the world followed in his traces, studying the fossil-rich rocks as if they were a colourful picture book displaying the history of the earth, calling these mountains the Dolomites.