Messner Mountain Museum Ortles
The Messner Mountain Museum Ortles, situated at 1,900 meters above sea level in Solda, focuses on the theme of ice and glaciers, featuring a vast collection of Ortles paintings and ice-climbing equipment.
Planning your visit
MMM Ortles is the ice museum among Messner's six, built largely underground at 1,900 metres in Solda beneath the north face of the Ortler, the highest peak in South Tyrol.
The theme is ice: glaciers and their retreat, ice climbing and its equipment, the polar expeditions of Nansen, Amundsen and Scott, and the human fear of and fascination with frozen landscapes. Messner's own collection of Ortler paintings — an entire genre of nineteenth-century alpine art devoted to one mountain — hangs alongside.
The building's partial burial is thematic: visitors descend into a space lit through a glass roof, evoking the experience of being inside a glacier.
The First World War fought at altitude in these mountains, with tunnels driven through ice, is part of the subject.
Opening depends on the season and the lifts. Allow ninety minutes. The main booking is an entry ticket. Current availability is listed below.
Before you book
Where is Messner Mountain Museum Ortles?
Messner Mountain Museum Ortles is in Solda, Italy. The map on this page marks its exact location.
How long should I allow for Messner Mountain Museum Ortles?
Allow ninety minutes. That is the time the collection itself takes at an unhurried pace, before any queue.
Do I need to book Messner Mountain Museum Ortles in advance?
Tickets can be bought on the door at quiet times, but booking ahead fixes the date and avoids the queue at busy ones. Live availability is shown on this page.