Mining Museum - Location Monteneve

In the mining area of Monteneve there's a mountain hut and the former miners' settlement of San Martino. Nowadays it houses the Location Monteneve - "Standort Schneeberg" in German, "Sede di Monteneve" in Italian -, one of the four locations of the South Tyrol Museum of Mining. Already in the 13th century there was a mining industry (certificate by the notary Jacob Haas at Bolzano on the 24th December 1237), mentioning the "good silver of Monteneve". The silver, lead and zinc mine, more precisely a series of small mines and galleries on the mountain ridge between the Val Passiria and the Val Ridanna valleys, was in operation for 800 years, until 1985.

Nowadays, the showroom exhibits a variety of interesting photos, documents as well as ancient items. And afterwards you can proceed into the highest located mine of Europe, open to the public since 1991. There are two tours: The Exploring Tour of the Mining Area is a full-day tour with hike to the Location Monteneve, a guided tour of the showroom and - after lunch - to the mining area and the miners' settlement. The Monte Neve Adventure Tour, however, is even more extensive. Next to the showroom there's also the Monteneve Mountain Hut, offering accommodation.

And how to reach the Location Monteneve? It is accessibly only by foot. In the Val Passiria valley, you can start at the Monteneve Bridge, located along the Passo del Rombo mountain road (parking space available). The trails no. 31 and 29 take you in about 2 hours up to more than 2,300 m a.s.l. Alternatively, from the Upper Valle Isarco, a driveway and an educational trail start at the Ridanna Mine in Masseria (4 hours).