The Val di Zoldo is not only a valley in the heart of the world’s most beautiful mountains, the Dolomites, but also a community with a rich history to tell.
This is a land not only of ice cream makers, but also of ciodaròt, or nail makers, shepherds and countryfolk. You can breathe in the mountain culture, handed down through the generations, as you stroll through the villages, and learn more about it by visiting the little museums, where traditions meet folklore and history to tell the story of the people who lived, and continue to live, in the Dolomites.
MUSEUMS
IRON AND NAIL MUSEUM
This museum illustrates and celebrates what for many centuries played a leading role in the Val di Zoldo: iron. For a long time, it was dug out from the rock faces, where the unceasing noise of the mallets and hammers and the smell of smoking coal were a permanent feature of the landscape.
"Weapons made in Zoldo fought in the Levante until the time of the Crusades; nails crafted in this valley held together the planks of the ships and everything else in the Republic that could be held together with nails, for over five centuries; mined here were iron, copper, silver, lead and tin, all sorts of metals, which contributed to the greatness and splendour of the cities on Dry Land and indeed Venice itself!" ("Marco e Mattio" by Sebastiano Vassalli, edizioni Einaudi Torino, 1994)
Evidence of the ancient ironworking and nail making trade can be found in several local place names, such as the villages of “Fusine”, “Fornesighe” or “Forno” in the Val di Zoldo, all derived from the words for kiln or forge. What has also remained is a strong desire on the part of the whole Val di Zoldo community to tell its story through oral and written material from the past.
The local people thus started out from the individual and collective memory, reconstructing the last century of works of the ciodarot, or nail makers in the fusinele, or forges, in the 19th and 20th centuries.
From the specialisation of the ciodarot in the production of nails and studs for footwear soles to the slow decline in the area of ironworking, the museum sheds fresh light on a wealth of events and memories.
"Negùn fèa ben ciòdi come in Zoldo" (No-one made nails like the folk in Zoldo): the Iron and Nail Museum in Forno is dedicated to the local nail makers and blacksmiths, and is spread over two floors in Palazzo del Capitaniato.
The environment these workers spent most of their day in, the raw materials, the equipment, the traditional customs and skills are all illustrated with pictures, sounds and texts, taking the visitor right back to those days. In the creation of this museum, staunchly encouraged and supported by the Local Council of Forno di Zoldo, an important role was played by the Giovanni Angelini Foundation, and especially by Giovanni and Andrea Angelini, whose research and studies made a major contribution to promoting the history of this valley, to which the museum is dedicated.
OPENING HOURS
From 12th to 30th July
Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun from 4pm to 6.30 pm
From 2nd to 30th August
Wed, Fri from 4pm to 6.30pm | Sat, Sun from 10am to 12pm
Fri 11th, Sat 12th, Sun 13th, Mon 14th, Tue 15 th August
From 10 am to 12pm and from 4pm to 6.30pm
From 1st to 10th September
Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun from 4pm to 6.30pm
Iron and Nail Museum
Via S. Francesco 15
32012 Forno – Val di Zoldo
MUSEUM OF TARDES, TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMER OF GOIMA VALLEY
The idea for this museum dates back to 1986, when a group of people founded the Goima Valley Cultural Institute in the Goima Valley in the Val di Zoldo, and began setting up exhibition rooms with the aim of gathering together a complete collection of the objects and tools that testified to how their forebears used to live.
In 2016, on the orders of the Local Council of Zoldo Alto, the museum underwent restoration work, during which the items on display were rearranged and reorganised. The exhibition is based around a traditional home in Zoldo, with its fogher, or hearth, which the visitor meets on the way in and the way back out of the exhibition route.
The sections illustrate the settings in which the inhabitants of the valley spent most of their day, and the numerous activities that kept them busy, from spinning wool to making cheese and dairy produce.
These thrilling objects, reproduced in perfect detail and perfectly functional, belong to a culture in which ingenuity allowed the people to turn a simple everyday object into an authentic little work of art by the local craftsmen.
OPENING HOURS
July and August
Sat and Sun from 3pm to 6pm.
The museum will be open also on 15th August from 3pm to 6pm
Click here to download the flyer
Museum of Trades, Traditions and Customs of la Valle di Goima
Bivio Scuole – via Molin 3
32012 Valle di Goima - Val di Zoldo
"AL POIAT" ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM OF ZOPPE' DI CADORE
With its objects and stories of days gone by, the “Al poiat” museum in Zoppé di Cadore is linked to the ancient trade of the charcoal merchants, which visitors can learn about thanks to the reproductions and video material, which show the various stages that go into preparing and lighting a poiat, or charcoal pit.
The museum also shows other objects commonly used for making scarpet, or traditional shoes, as well as nails and utensils for carpentry or making dairy products.
The exhibits show visitors what life was like in the mountains, also mentioning illustrious artists who lived in the little village of Zoppé di Cadore, such as Fiorenzo Tomea and Masi Simonetti: “the village (Zoppé) is cut off from the rest of the world (…) which gives it a romantic appeal for eccentrics like me” (M. Simonetti).
OPENING HOURS
From 26th July to 3rd September
From Tuesday to Sunday, from 3pm to 6.30pm. Monday closed.
“Al poiat” Ethnographic Museum of Zoppè di Cadore
Via Bortolot
32010 Zoppé di Cadore
MESSNER MOUNTAIN MUSEUM - THE MUSEUM IN THE CLOUDS
In a spectacular location, surrounded by the Ampezzano, Cadore and Val di Zoldo Dolomites, the Messner Mountain Museum looks down upon the surrounding valleys from the summit of Monte Rite (2181 m). The theme of the exhibition inside the building, used as a defensive fort during WWI, is the rock, an element that represents the soul and the foundation of the mountains.
OPENING HOURS
June 10 am - 5 pm (last entry at 4:30 pm)
From July until 15th September 10 am - 6 pm (last entry 5:30 pm)
Messner mountain museum
Monte Rite
c/o Località Monte Rite
I-32040 Cibiana di Cadore (BL)
Tel. +39 3881568007
EXHIBITIONS
NATURE AND FOSSILS EXHIBITION
In Pieve (Val di Zoldo), at the former primary school, is a rich collection of findings that tell the story of the animals who live in the forests and the mountains of the Dolomites.
From numerous tracks to nests, together with a detailed file on each species, the exhibition is held in three large rooms, and offers visitors the chance to find out a great deal about the wildlife of the Zoldo area.
Since 2019, the exhibition is integretate with a rich collection of fossils and precious stones collected throughout the Dolomites.
OPENING HOURS
From 13th July to 17th September
Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun from 4pm to 6pm
Nature exhibition
Ex elementary school (first floor)
32012 Pieve, Val di Zoldo
