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).
