Exhibitions

The sloping terrain has influenced the way mountain villages developed but also how houses and barns were built. One such method, the “blockbau” system, even allows you to dismantle your home and move it elsewhere if, for example, there is the threat of a landslide.

Snow and ice, wind and freezing temperatures, scorching sun and falling rocks: it is hard to settle in places with extreme and unstable conditions. But some people manage it. Who are they? And how do they do it? Let’s find out!

From the pale shades of sandstone to the brilliance of red ammonite, and from the “scaglia rossa” of Feltre to the zeolites of Agordino rocks are not only like beautiful pictures; they are also like books containing the history of millions of years.

Rock has no life of its own, but it has memory; it stores the history of architecture, domestic life, craftsmanship and contemporary art. Discover the many meanings it has garnered in the Dolomites, how men and women have shaped it and have, in turn, been shaped by it.

Some sounds are barely audible: the creaking of ice as it thaws, the chirping or buzzing of insects and the whispers of trees. Others are loud and recognisable: the bleating of deer, the roaring of streams and the whistling of marmots. Close your eyes, and get ready to listen to the voices of the Dolomites!

The Dolomites are also home to man-made sounds such as cowbells, spinning wheels and the chopping of wood. We can still hear them echoing in the meadows and on the trails. They speak to us of a time when life was slower. They are the sounds of work that give rest to the ear.

Mankind has altered the Dolomites landscape ever since its arrival. Much of what seems ‘natural’ to us has actually been shaped by the wisdom of generations who have been able to consciously manage the land and benefit from it.

Pastureland for meat and dairy products, flowers for honey, land for seeds: the soil has always fed the inhabitants of the Dolomites and, today, the time has come to rediscover the ancient knowledge and restore harmony with nature and the care of the environment.

This gallery is dedicated to the women who made (and wrote) the history of the Dolomites. Women who, in a time not so distant from our own, broke down gender categories by demonstrating that each of us has the strength to accomplish any feat we set our mind to.

Water nymphs, toothless or goat-footed creatures, beautiful maidens with gentle voices: in how many ways has the female figure been represented in the popular imagination of the Dolomites? Come and find out by visiting this gallery!

Rituals transform places and are transformed by them in turn. They accumulate like layers of paint on the psyche and in the imagination. They even continue to act on the psyche long after they have been forgotten, spanning the spectrum from sacred sources to the ritual ‘sacrifices’ of the holidays as a tapestry that unravels through time and space.

There are experiences in the mountains made up of suspended time and slow breaths that make us forget for a moment our worries and preoccupations. Imagine the magic of a mountain choir and a concert on the highest peak as the sun rises. Do you want to listen?

No matter how high and rocky the Dolomites, men and women have always found a way to get across them. The history of travelling through the mountains is made up of many stories; with great events, social changes, historic and modern tourism, and small everyday dealings all connecting and overlapping in a seamless way.

Mountains are permeable barriers and people pass through with their languages, cultures and traditions. Such contacts may be peaceful or not, but they change history either way: find out how!

Every frontier has its pioneers In the Dolomites, the rocky peaks were the great unknown, and the mountain guides were the explorers who led the first wealthy tourists to discover the peaks. This story takes place at the time in which mountaineering was born.

The Winter Olympics, the World Ski Championships, the World Cup, the Marcialonga, the Dobbiaco-Cortina, and the Giro d’Italia. What does the athletic Hero’s Journey look like in the Dolomites? In what spirit did people compete? What type of future have sporting events opened up?

The Dolomites themselves are an open-air museum: a discovery at every step. Here is a walking guide for discovering the nature, landscapes and geology of the Dolomites along the routes selected by the local museums.

Going on foot means reading the traces of history on the landscape, which we can think of as a great, “far flung museum” on the sites of the Great War, and of popular legends, religion, art and archaeology of the Dolomites.

How many ways are there to inhabit the Dolomites? From the first Roman “viles” to the mountain farms and communal spaces of yesterday and today: huts and taverns, church and school, fountains and wash-houses, mountain life has a common thread, sharing.

Artists take the beauty of the Dolomites, transform it, and give it back. From the past to the present, here is a journey through the various works that tell the story of the Dolomites and give us pause to reflect on the changes that have taken place in them up to now.

Every person has their pace. And it’s not always the same. Even in the Dolomites, time varies depending on whether you measure it with the sun, water, mechanical gears or super-fast digital devices. And you? What is your pace like when you cross the Dolomites?

Nature measures time in many ways. Millions of years, seasons or moments: each is a cycle of life on the planet. Learn more about the plants and animals of the Dolomites from the Triassic to the present!

There are many museums in the Dolomites, and each one reveals one facet of a heritage as great as our mountains. Discover them all on the UNESCO Foundation portal Visitdolomites.com.

Not all snow is the same, as the people of the Dolomites know very well; there is icy snow and snow that falls in thick blankets, heavy snow and light, drifting snow blown about by the wind. Discover the many ways you can say snow in the Dolomites!