The Marmolada Grande Guerra 3000m counts as the highest museum in Europe. It sits at the Serauta mid-station, around 3,000 metres, along the cable car that climbs from Malga Ciapela to Punta Rocca. It tells one of the strangest chapters of the First World War, when between 1915 and 1917 Italians and Austro-Hungarians faced each other here, on the glacier itself. Under engineer Leo Handl, the Austro-Hungarians carved a whole City of Ice into the glacier: kilometres of tunnels holding dormitories, an infirmary, supply depots, observation posts, even a chapel. An experiment in engineering and survival with no precedent.
Renovated and expanded in 2015, the museum mixes artefacts, photographs and documents with a multimedia installation that recreates the absurd daily reality of a war fought inside a glacier. A scale model of the City of Ice helps you grasp the size of those maze-like passages. The visit pairs naturally with the cable-car trip, and it's the setting that makes it unlike any ordinary museum: the altitude, the cold, the ice that keeps giving up objects and remains. A good stop for anyone who wants to know the Dolomites not just for how they look, but for what they've been through.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Marmolada Great War museum located?
At the Serauta mid-station, roughly 3,000 metres, along the cable car from Malga Ciapela to Punta Rocca. It's exactly this altitude that earns it the title of highest museum in Europe.
What can you see inside the museum?
Artefacts, photographs and documents from the war fought on the glacier, with a multimedia installation and a model of the City of Ice, the network of tunnels the Austro-Hungarians carved into the glacial mass.