South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology

In the Via Museo road at the entrance to the old town of Bolzano there's the Archaeology Museum. It is housed by a building erected in 1910 as a branch of the Austro-Hungarian Bank. The museum shows the history of the region from the Palaeolithic (15,000 BC) to the period of Carolingians (800 AD), but the majority of the permanent exhibition is dedicated to a internationally famous mummy: Ötzi, the Iceman. His clothing and equipment are on display here - the circumstances of his death and his state of health have been studied in Bolzano by international experts.

Ötzi was found in 1991 on the more than 3,000 m high Giogo di Tisa saddle in the Val Senales valley, a few metres from the Austrian border. After some legal disputes and a detailed analysis of the glacial mummy, it was transferred in 1998 in a separate chamber inside the museum boasting a temperature of -6 degrees C and a relative humidity of 98%. A small window enables a view on the Iceman, whereas the paleo artists Adrie and Alfons Kennis from the Netherlands created a life-like reconstruction to show how he looked like. The South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, one of the 10 Provincial Museums, extends across three floors. Its offer is completed by changing theme exhibitions, the lounge - an area offering oases of peace and playful elements - and a small shop.