Messner Mountain Museum

Veneto Dolomites


Part of Reinhold Messner’s five-museum ode to the Dolomites, the so-called Museum in the Clouds on Monte Rite (2181m) offers a complete 360-degree panorama of the Dolomites from its crystal-shaped glass lantern. It is housed in the defensive fort of Monte Rite, which played a critical role in the Italian line of defence against the Austro-Hungarian advance in WWI, and later offered shelter to partisans during WWII.

Inside the fort, the museum explores the geology of the Dolomites through the artefacts, journals and paintings of the first mountaineers and natural scientists, who wrote the story of these mountains as they explored its hidden reaches and pioneered new ascents. You’ll need to park your car at Passo Cibiana and take the shuttle bus, or follow the walking path (6.5km).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Veneto Dolomites attractions

1. Museo Civico di Palazzo Fulcis

16.95 MILES

Although Belluno’s Civic Museum has some 600 notable regional works of art, including some stunning canvases by local talent Sebastiano Ricci, the real…

2. Piazza dei Martiri

17 MILES

Belluno's main pedestrian square is the Piazza dei Martiri (Martyrs' Sq), named after the four partisans hanged here in WWII. On the north side various…

3. Cattedrale di San Martino

17.1 MILES

Belluno’s majestic cathedral with its elegant, onion-domed campanile (bell tower) designed by Filippo Juvarra was originally raised in 850 on top of an…

5. Piccolo Museo della Grande Guerra

24.4 MILES

This tiny museum dedicated to the First World War, preserves original documents, photos and ancient weapons. It honours local resistance fighters who…

6. Giuseppe Fontana Ethnographic Museum

25.64 MILES

A carefully composed house-museum reconstructing the life and times of historic Sappada in one of the oldest houses in the village. Peopled by straw…

7. Museo Ladin

26.77 MILES

Atmospherically set in a castle 15km south of Brunico and full of folk treasures, this is the best of three museums in this region devoted to Ladin…

8. Museo Ladin de Fascia

27.52 MILES

One of the Ladin valleys' fascinating cultural museums, this three-story structure in the village of Vigo di Fassa is packed with beautiful wood carvings…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "italy/veneto-dolomites/attractions/messner-mountain-museum/a/poi-sig/1624053/1336013",
      "destination": "Veneto-Dolomites",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "Italy",
      "region": "Veneto-Dolomites",
      "position": "superzone"
    }