Bolzano: Ötzi and the earth pyramids of Renon

Crossroads between Italian and German culture, Bolzano houses the oldest intact human ever found on the Alps, displayed steps away from the historic center.

The center can be explored on foot; for the Renon, a cable car climbs up.

In the refrigerated chamber of the Alto Adige Archaeological Museum is preserved Ötzi, the man who lived approximately 5,300 years ago discovered in 1991 by two hikers on glaciers at the border with Austria, together with his original clothing and tools.

A few steps away, on Walther Square, named after the medieval poet Walther von der Vogelweide, stands Bolzano Cathedral, recognizable by its colorful glazed tile roof.

Taking the cable car up Renon, one of the oldest of its kind in the region, you reach the plateau above the city in just a few minutes.

Walking across the plateau you encounter the Earth Pyramids, rock pinnacles shaped by erosion atop columns of compact earth, each crowned by a balanced boulder.

The objects found with Ötzi — a copper axe, a bow, and a quiver of arrows — have made it possible to reconstruct with rare precision the daily life of Europe's Copper Age.

The Earth Pyramids continue to erode slowly: some formations photographed decades ago no longer exist today, replaced by new spires forming elsewhere on the same plateau.