Tiso Mineral Museum

Already in the Seventies, the information office of Tiso irregularly put on display minerals. When in the 1990s the mineral searcher Paul Fischnaller relinquished his comprehensive mineral collection to the municipal corporation of Funes, it was displayed in different rooms. Finally in September 1999, in the ground floor of the club house, the barrier-free Tiso Mineral Museum - "Mineralienmuseum Teis" in German, "Museo Mineralogico di Tiso" in Italian - was inaugurated. The location is perfect - at the head of the valley rise the peaks of the mighty Odle Group.

The collection is highly impressive! The highlights are the characteristic "Spheres of Tiso", that is to say minerals with a diameter of up to 20 cm that developed in air pockets of quartz-porphyry stone. The infiltration of saline solutions caused agates, amethysts and mountain crystals to develop. However, the minerals of the collection do not only come from Tiso, but also from the other areas that Paul Fischnaller visited, such as other South Tyrolean valleys, Switzerland, the Valle d'Aosta valley, the Mont-Blanc region and Idar Oberstein in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany.

The offer is completed by a small shop and different special exhibitions, e.g. "Flying Jewels II". The museum was rebuilt and extended in the first half of 2020. Another mineral collection in South Tyrol can be found in San Giovanni in the Valle Aurina valley, the Kirchler Mineral Museum. And how to reach the Tiso Mineral Museum? It is located in the village centre, parking spaces are available in the surroundings. Tiso is also accessible by means of public transport, e.g. bus line 340 from Bressanone, or by foot. A 2-hour hike leads you from Gudon near the town of Chiusa to Tiso, whereas a 3-hour hike takes you on the Funes Valley Trail from Santa Maddalena to Tiso.