YOU don鈥檛 need a spaceship to see alien landscapes up close. Just take a hike in the South Tyrol in northern Italy, where fog and the glow of dawn help create an otherworldly spectacle.
These strange formations are called Erdpyramiden in German and Piramidi di terra in Italian, which both translate to earth pyramids. Their origins lie in the boulder-studded moraine clay deposited by glaciers during the last ice age. Torrential rain erodes exposed clay, while the rocks protect material directly beneath them. When the conditions are just right, over time the rocks 鈥渞ise鈥� out of the landscape.
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German photographer Kilian Sch枚nberger describes them as 鈥渙ne of the strangest landscape elements of the Alps鈥�. This example, near Plata in the Puster valley, is one of the most admired of several similar formations across the province. Other striking examples can be seen in the hills above the city of Bolzano.
Inevitably, such places inspire tales of petrified witches or cursed meadows. Other myths are more original. 鈥淔or one of these areas there is a prophecy that doomsday arrives when the erosion reaches the stove of a nearby farm,鈥� says Sch枚nberger. The march of nature being what it is, it may be best to get along and see them soon.
Photographer
Kilian Sch枚nberger
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淎lien world of the Alps鈥�
