The Marmolada Grande Guerra 3000m is considered the highest museum in Europe: it is located at the intermediate station of Serauta, at around 3,000 metres, along the cable car that climbs from Malga Ciapela to Punta Rocca. It recounts one of the most extraordinary chapters of the First World War, when between 1915 and 1917 Italians and Austro-Hungarians faced each other here, on the glacier itself. Under the direction of engineer Leo Handl, the Austro-Hungarians carved an entire City of Ice into the glacier: kilometres of tunnels containing dormitories, an infirmary, supply depots, observation posts, and even a chapel. An experiment in engineering and survival without precedent.
Renovated and expanded in 2015, the museum combines artefacts, photographs, and documents with a multimedia installation that reconstructs the absurd daily reality of a war fought inside a glacier. A scale model of the City of Ice helps visitors grasp the dimensions of those labyrinthine passages. The visit pairs naturally with the cable-car ascent, and it is precisely the setting — the altitude, the cold, the ice that continues to yield objects and remains — that makes it an experience unlike that of any ordinary museum. A recommended stop for anyone who wants to know the Dolomites not only for how they look, but for what they have lived through.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Marmolada Great War museum located?
At the intermediate station of Serauta, at roughly 3,000 metres, along the cable car from Malga Ciapela to Punta Rocca. It is precisely this altitude that earns it the title of the 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.