The South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology is located in the historic centre of Bolzano and is mostly famous for Ötzi. The “Iceman” is a mummy of a man who lived in this area more than 5,000 years ago.
Archaeological Museum Bolzano
Address, opening hours and entrance fee
Address: Via Museo, 43- 39100 Bolzano. Phone: +39 0471 982098 or +39 0471982576. Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 till 18.00 (24 and 25 December 10.00 till 15.00). Entrance fee: € 9,00; children age 7-25 and 65+: € 7,00; children age 0-6: Free. Name in Italian: Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige.
History and description
The main attraction of the Archaeological Museum in Bolzano is Ötzi, the man of Similaun (the place where he was dicovered). The mummy was found by chance by some tourists. The layers of snow and ice covering him had been preserved him in a perfect condition. What is most important is that he must have died an unexpected death, which means that his body had not been tampered with for funeral rites of any sort. His equipment, including his clothes, a saddlebag and several tools werd also found in in a perfect state.
Apart from the “Iceman”, the museum documents the history of the area, from the Palaeolithic period onwards to the Middle Ages.