Messner Mountain Museum Kronplatz

The Dolomites


Mountaineer Reinhold Messner's sixth and final mountain museum also sadly happened to be one of the final projects of star architect Zaha Hadid before her untimely death in 2016. Located at 2275m – access is via the Kronplatz cable car – its buried concrete forms are both architecturally thrilling and spectacularly sited. Inside there's a touching, inspiring collection of objects that accompanied some of the world's most accomplished mountaineers on legendary ascents, displayed in descending galleries and spliced with views out to the peaks and valleys beyond.

There are also a rather great number of works from Messner's collection of Alpine paintings, from both historical and contemporary artists and ranging from the sublime to the gently kitsch. It's worth making the trip up here to see it, even if you're not skiing or hiking, and even if you're not into climbing yourself. Check for exact opening dates – these correspond with the running of the cable car.