ON THE ICEMAN'S TRACKS
The recently constructed Iceman Otzi Peak, a spectacular eagle's nest panoramic platform, perched on the summit of the Croda delle Comacchie overlooking the Giogo Alto glacier and the Similaun snow fields, is proving a great new attractions for visitors to the Alpine area of Bolzano. The winner of numerous architectural awards, the platform can be accessed via a short trek from the station of a new cable car, inaugurated in 2023 and linking the Glacier Hotel Gruward, which is situated at a height of 3,212m above the Val Senales. This valley was once the mountain pass marking the traditional transhumance route between Italy and Austria.
The nearby ArcheoPark Val Senales organizes “Otzi Glacier Tours” , guided excursions over the terrain where the oldest European mummy was found in 1991 and is now preserved in the Archeological Museum of Bolzano (Alto Adige). The mummy, popularly referred to as the Iceman Otzi, (named after the Otztal Alpine valley where he was discovered) belonged to a hunter of the Copper Age. Dating to some 5,300 years ago, his clothes and weapons were also intact. Scientific examinations of the body showed that he had died of an arrow wound in his shoulder. Recent DNA tests have revealed that he still lives on in a scattering of descendents alive today.
Info: Tel: +39.0473.662171 www.valsenales.com info@schnalstal.com
