Top of the World
Monte Serva is a grassy hill, with a reassuring appearance, which closes the Val Belluna to the north east, but which actually reaches the remarkable height of 2133 metres above sea level. When in winter the setting sun illuminates the snow-covered slopes, which take on a pinkish hue, and from the city, now in semi-darkness, one can observe its splendour, or when in the middle of June it appears very green, right up to the top, before the summer aridity makes it lose its brilliance starting from the drier sides, the Serva is a real spectacle. Once it was a mountain of haymaking (below) and grazing (above), therefore of hardships and labors; today the meadows are no longer mowed but a flock of sheep still runs along the slopes during the summer. This mountain is located inside the National Park, and is one of the most interesting areas for flora and vegetation, in terms of richness and variety of species. The mountain boasts, in fact, a very ancient history of floristic exploration, so much so that the first botanical collections, documented in historical herbals, date back as far as 1400. There are many floristic emergencies worthy of note: from the relicts of arctic-alpine flora (Elyna myosuroides, Chamorchis alpina, Non ti scordar di me nano-Eritrichium nanum), to the rare Geranium argenteum, which grows on the ridges swept by the wind; in the screes it is worth mentioning the Alisso dell'Obir-Alyssum ovirense, while in the most undisturbed areas of the Crode dei For beautiful and rare species vegetate.
