Stalagmite SV1 from Grotta Savi, located at the SE margin of the European Alps (Italy), is the first Alpine speleothem that continuously spans the past c. 17kyr. Extension rate and δ18Oc record for the Lateglacial probably reflect a combination of temperature and rainfall, with rainfall exerting the dominant effect. Low speleothem calcite δ18 Oc values were recorded from c. 14.5 and 12.35 kyr, during GI‐1 (Bølling— Allerød) interstadial, which in our interpretation, was warm and wet. The GS‐1 (Younger Dryas) was characterized by a shift to heavier δ18 Oc, coinciding with δ13Cc enrichment and extremely low extension rate (<8 μm/year). These characteristics indicate that GS‐1 climate was cool and dry in the SE Alps. Calibration using historical data revealed that there is a positive δ18Oc/dT relationship. A 1°C rise in mean annual temperature should correspond to c. 2.85% increase of SV‐1 δc18Oc. We reconstructed a slow and steady temperature rise of c. 0.5°C since 10 kyr BP, in broad agreement with reconstructions from pollen data for SE Europe. Stalagmite SV1 indicates that climate variability in the SE Alps has been influenced by the Mediterranean Sea for the past c. 17 kyr.