In a time long ago, upstream from the village of Sottoguda, where the silence of the mountain caresses the earth, it was said that there was a bronze doorway, gigantic and shining, that gave access to a hidden fairy-tale realm. This gateway, imposing and mysterious, guarded a world far from the sight of ordinary mortals. It was the realm of King Ombro, a place rich in magic and beauty, where stood an alabaster castle, invisible to the eyes of those not meant to see it.
King Ombro had a daughter, Ombretta, whose beauty and grace were known throughout the kingdom. The young princess, sweet and cheerful, won the hearts of all her subjects, but especially those of the princes who came to visit the castle. Her beauty was such that no one could resist her charms, yet Ombretta had never ceased to be kind and pure, loved by all.
But not everyone in the kingdom was happy for her. Her stepmother, the queen, deeply envied her stepdaughter’s beauty, as she feared that Ombretta’s grace would make her daughters’ wedding difficult. Over time, the wicked queen became increasingly resentful, feeling that the future of her family was threatened by Ombretta’s beauty. Her daughters did not possess the same fortune or beauty, and the queen’s envy grew day by day.
One day, a prince came to King Ombretta’s castle, in love with the princess. With his heart filled with hope, he asked for the hand of Ombretta. The king, happy to accept the offer, agreed to the marriage, and the news quickly spread throughout the kingdom. The kingdom prepared for a princely wedding, with invitations to nobles and royals from all corners of the kingdom. It was to be an unforgettable celebration, worthy of Ombretta’s beauty.
However, fate had a different fate in store. The queen, blinded by envy, decided to act. She summoned a powerful witch and, with anger and resentment, ordered her to turn Ombretta into stone, to prevent the wedding from taking place. And so it happened. The young princess, beautiful and loved by all, was turned into a statue of rock, motionless and mute, a prisoner of fate.
King Ombro, unaware of the intrigue, was devastated by his daughter’s disappearance. He ordered that she be searched everywhere in the kingdom, but no one could find her. The king’s grief was deep, and the whole kingdom pined for the loss of the princess.
Many years passed, and the princess was never spoken of again, except in whispers among the inhabitants of the Pettorina Valley. The story of Ombretta became a legend, passed down from generation to generation.
One day, a shepherd grazing his sheep in Val Ombretta heard a strange sound coming from the rocks of Marmolada. At first he thought it was just the wind whistling through the mountains, but as he listened closer, he clearly distinguished words:
“Son de sass e no me muove
Son de crepa en Marmolèda
Son na fia arbandonèda
E no sèi per ci rejon”
The song spoke of an abandoned daughter, a young girl turned to stone. That sad melody seemed to come from the rock itself, a distant echo of the lost beauty of Ombretta.
Years passed, and the disappearance of the princess was never spoken of again, but the story remained alive among the people of the valley, who never forgot the grief of King Ombretta and the sad fate of his daughter.
The legend of Ombretta, almost parallel to that of Conturina of the Contrin Valley, has a different ending. While Conturina’s story continues with the intervention of a soldier, who, hearing the young girl’s song, decides to climb up to free her, Ombretta’s spell now seems irreversible. The statue, motionless in the rock, remains a sad reminder of a lost beauty.
Yet, there are those who swear that, passing through Val Ombretta, if you look closely at the south face of the Marmolada, you can glimpse the image of a maiden carved in the rock, a figure that seems to be alive, trapped forever in the heart of the mountains.
It is also said that, for a long time, the key to King Ombro’s magical bronze door hung on the portal of the Sottoguda church, a symbol of a lost kingdom and a legend that still fascinates anyone who ventures into these mysterious places.
