South Tyrol Museum of Archeology

At the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology (Südtiroler Archäologiemuseum) in Bolzano's Old Town, you can marvel at one of the world's most famous and important mummies: Oetzi the Iceman. This glacial mummy was discovered in 1991 by a couple from Nuremberg, Germany, on the Giogo di Tisa pass in the Oetztal Alps, more precisely on the Similaun at an altitude of 3,210 metres. The discovery site lies 92.55 metres from the Austrian border, within Italian territory.

Numerous studies later revealed that Oetzi lived around 3300 BC and was about 46 years old when he died from an arrow wound. He was approximately 1.58 metres tall. To preserve Oetzi, the museum developed special new refrigeration technology that maintains a temperature of -6 degrees C and 98% humidity. You can glimpse him through a small window.

The museum also offers insights into everyday life in Oetzi's time, displaying his clothing made of hides and grasses, as well as his equipment. A decade ago, the exhibition about the Iceman was expanded to cover his life in greater detail, address questions and curiosities surrounding the mummy, and present new research findings. One highlight is the three-dimensional reconstruction of Oetzi. The museum, which opened in 1998, is one of Provincial Museums of South Tyrol. As a complement, the archeoParc in the Val Senales shows how Oetzi once lived.

How to get there: The Museum of Archaeology is located opposite Bolzano's Municipal Museum at the entrance to the pedestrian zone. City buses stop nearby. There's a pay-and-display car park on the other side of the Talvera Bridge, at the Piazza della Vittoria square. In the next few years, the museum will relocate to new premises between the Via Dante and the Via Marconi roads in Bolzano. The former ENEL site there is being converted for this purpose.