Visiting Ötzi the Iceman

Bolzano (Italian pronunciation)/Bozen (German pronunciation) is the capital city of the South Tyrol region and is the largest city with more than 105,000 residents. Bolzano's residents speak both German and Italian, and the German/Austrian influences are noticeable everywhere.

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Bolzano is home to the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, which boasts Ötzi the Iceman as its most famous resident. Ötzi is a 5,300 year old mummy who was found in the mountains on the Austrian/Italian border in 1991. Thought to have lived during the Copper Age, Ötzi was found by two hikers who thought they had found the remains of a recently-deceased mountaineer. The body was removed from the ice and sent to the medical examiner in Innsbruck, Austria where they soon discovered that he was much older than anyone imagined. His remains are carefully preserved in the Bolzano museum now, and constant research is conducted to learn more about prehistoric humans.

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This was one of the very few rainy days we had in Italy, but that didn't stop us from exploring the town. We visited the small WWII museum under the Monumento alla Vittoria Siegesdenkmal memorial (also known as the Victory Monument) that was inaugurated in 1928. It has been a controversial structure, as it was ordered by Mussolini, and for many represents the tensions between the Italian and German speaking communities of the region.

Highlights

• Visit the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology and Ötzi

• Walk through the historical city center

• Walk around the Duomo di Bolzano, much of which was destroyed during WWII and has been restored

• Visit some of the many castles in the region