The Cinque Torri are a group of lined up, massive rocky boulders, so as to appear as a line of towers. They rise on a large balcony, from where one of the most stunning 360° panoramic views in the Dolomites can be admired: in the foreground, Croda da Lago and Averau, on the one side; the frontline of the Great War and Sasso di Stria, Lagazuoi, and the Tofane group, on the other. In the distance, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Cristallo, Sorapiss, Antelao, and Civetta.

During the Great War, the second Italian line ran across the Cinque Torri with a complex network of trenches, emplacements, and mountain tracks. From there, thanks to the perfect strategic location, the officers could control the entire zone from the Tofane to Sasso di Stria. According to early Italian strategic plans, the Cinque Torri, together with the Castelletto, were to be the system of high strongholds to control the Costeana valley underneath.

For their extraordinary topographic features, the Artillery Headquarters were installed at the Cinque Torri: many cannon batteries aiming at the Austrian emplacements of Sass de Strìa, Piccolo Lagazuoi, and Castelletto were placed around the rocky boulders. The howitzers ,fired from the Cinque Torri, struck and eventually put the Tre Sassi Fort, on the Valparola Pass, out of use.

King Vittorio Emanuele III visited this war zone and the troops here committed several times.