On the Lagazuoi and the Marmolada, between 1915 and 1917, Italian and Austro-Hungarian troops fought with mines and tunnels dug into rock and ice. Today two museums preserve the memory of that “white war” fought at the most extreme altitudes.
The Lagazuoi, the mine war
The Lagazuoi (2,835 m) rises above the Falzarego pass, between Cortina d’Ampezzo and Val Badia. Between 1915 and 1917 the mountain was the scene of one of the harshest fronts of the First World War between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire: two platoons of Alpini occupied positions on the south side as early as October 1915, launching a long positional war fought at altitude. Both armies dug extensive tunnel systems into the rock: the Austro-Hungarians fortified the interior of the Piccolo Lagazuoi, while the Italians built a tunnel of over a kilometre along the Cengia Martini, conceived as a mine gallery, detonated in June 1917 with over thirty thousand kilograms of explosive. The Austrians responded with their own mines. Neither army achieved a decisive victory on the summit; after the defeat at Caporetto, in November 1917, Italian troops abandoned all positions.
Today the area forms the Lagazuoi Open-Air Museum of the Great War: a route of trenches, tunnels, shelters and machine-gun posts, restored and signposted, open during the summer season. Visitors can walk the Kaiserjäger Trail, an equipped via ferrata with metal cables that once connected the valley floor to the summit positions, or follow the original Lagazuoi Tunnel, with an internal elevation gain of about 650 metres between the Falzarego pass and the Rifugio Lagazuoi. The Lagazuoi cable car conveniently connects the pass to the refuge, making the summit accessible even without demanding climbs.
The Marmolada and the white war
The Marmolada, with Punta Penia (3,343 m), is the highest peak of the Dolomites and it too was a war front, the scene of the so-called “white war” fought amid rock and ice. On 13 December 1916, remembered as St Lucy’s Day, an avalanche of about a million cubic metres of snow and ice swept away the Austro-Hungarian positions, killing around 300 soldiers. To shelter from enemy fire and the elements, the Austro-Hungarians dug a veritable labyrinth of tunnels and shelters into the heart of the glacier, known as the “Ice City”, now vanished due to the glacier’s natural movement and thinning.
The museum at 3,000 metres
At an altitude of 3,000 metres, on Punta Serauta, stands the Museo Marmolada Grande Guerra 3000m, the highest museum in Europe: founded by Mario Bartoli and opened on 9 June 1990, it was fully renovated in 2015 for the centenary of the conflict. Across about 300 square metres it displays artefacts, weapons, uniforms, documents, period photographs and a multimedia exhibit telling the story of soldiers’ lives at the most extreme altitudes ever reached by a war front. The museum is reached by the Marmolada cable car from Malga Ciapela, in the municipality of Rocca Pietore.
Planning a visit
Both sites are reached by cable car (the Lagazuoi cable car from the Falzarego pass, the Marmolada cable car from Malga Ciapela) and are accessible during the summer season; for hours, opening times and trail conditions, it is best to check the official websites before visiting. They form part of a wider network of Great War museums and trails scattered across the Dolomiti Bellunesi.
Sources: Wikipedia, lagazuoi.it, Museo Marmolada Grande Guerra, funiviemarmolada.com.