Geological Riddles: The Origins of Geotourism in the Dolomite Mountains

The article links the emergence of geotourism in the Dolomites to the nineteenth-century debate on the origin of the Earth. In the second decade of the century, the investigations of Count Giuseppe Marzari Pencati in the mountains around Predazzo transformed a little village in the Fassa Valley into a site of international attraction. The guestbook, or Memoriale, of the hotel Nave d’Oro offers a precious source of information for exploring the encounter between scientists and tourists in the region. In the guestbook, the signatures 251 english summariesof illustrious scientists – Humboldt, Fuchs, Richthofen, Murchison, and many others – feature together with a crowd of less-known visitors, equally attracted by the geological riddles of Predazzo. The article highlights the entrepreneurship of an industrious inn-keeper able to benefit from the exchange among the most prominent geologists of the time, visiting his hotel in search of the origins of the Earth.