Ortisei/St.Ulrich Sightseeing

Museum de Gherdëina,
The Gröden local history museum is located in “Cësa di Ladins”. This interesting and well equipped valley museum opened its doors in1960 and has consequently added on exhibits of precious artifacts and natural history. It provides a good overview of the wonderful cultural history of the Gröden valley and also splendidly documents the 300 year old art of Gröden’s wood carving, displaying typical antique wooden toys, paintings of local artists, and collections of minerals and fossils worth seeing, as important prehistoric artifacts from the stone - , bronze- , and iron age, and flora and fauna of the Dolomite region.
This collection of numerous exhibits put together with lots of knowledge and love for the country will expose the visitor to crafts, history, and culture as well as to the richness in minerals and the diversity of the world of animals and plants within the high altitude of the Gröden/ValGardena valley.

Open:

Summer:
from June till end of middle October
Winter:
from February till end of April

The Church of St. Ulrich/Ortisei,
On a slightly elevated main square one finds the church of St. Ulrich, dedicated to the three kings and Saint Ulrich, the bishop of Augsburg and patron saint of the community. Built from 1793 – 1797 it existed originally only of a single nave and later between 1905 – 1907, had two side chapels (Heart of Jesus and Rosary) added on. The spacious building with longitudinal and cross ribbed vaults limited by cupolas, and structured buttresses, as the vast beams of the vestibule and the characteristic onion towers, makes it a dignified monument of the late baroque. The beautiful wood carving of the pews is also worth mentioning.

Veteran’s Capel,
It is located on the square on the left side of the church, in memory of the many veterans from the parish of St. Ulrich from WW I and WW II with their names engraved in the huge marble slabs. The special feature of this chapel is the bell hanging in the small tower – probably the oldest bell around. According to local believe this bell has been discovered accidentally while plowing at the “Pincànlöchern” and is therefore considered to originate from the medieval castle of “Stetteneck”.

Convention Center von St. Ulrich (Wood carving, Exhibits),
Also in the square of the church there is a contemporary building – the “Kongresshaus”. Its upper level is equipped with a wood paneled auditorium with an entry used for various evening activities, slide presentations, movies, and musical events. It is also used for conferences and conventions or other events and festivities.

Open:
Summer: from June till end of October
Winter: from December till end of April
from 10 AM till noon
afternoon 3PM to 7PM

Exhibit of Arts and Crafts of Gröden/ValGardena,
At the lower level of the Convention Center (“Kongresshaus”), on the right side of the main entry is the Exhibit of Arts and Crafts. At appealing displays work of individual wood carvers as well as products of organized production centers are exhibited, demonstrating a concise picture of the current level and quality of domestic craftsmanship. At the same time they convey the variety of styles, expression, and manufacturing. Certainly in its way a characteristic exhibit and living testimony of century old tradition of craftsmanship of the town and the valley.

Purger Monument,
Close to the church square where the Purgerstraße crosses the Bahnhofsstraße a bronze monument can be found on the right side, which deserves a short visit. It commemorates the former Mayor of St. Ulrich and builder of the first Grödner Straße (1856) from Waidbruck to St. Ulrich - Johann Baptist Purger (1805 – 1872). With his road construction he created an essential connection to the outside world and thus a basis for the flourishing development of international trade needed for wood carving items.

St. Anthony Church,
This precious small church is located on the “Antoniusplatz”. It was built between the years of 1673 and 1676 and is therefore older than the parish church. With its steep shingle roof and its onion tower pointing towards heaven it has turned into a popular motive for photographers showing Sela and Langkofel in the background. The main altar is adorned by a picture of St. Anthony of Padua surrounded by two new but in the same style created figurines of the bishop St. Ulrich and St. Ruprecht a creation of Dominikus Vinazer from 1682. The beautiful paintings on the side altars – copies of Murillo- are two works by the young Josef Moroder-Lusenberg.

The Luis Trenker Monument,
On the promenade with the same name, next to the old locomotive, a monument reminds the passersby of the world famous and multi talented son of Gröden – “Bera Luis”

St. Jacobs Church,
Is located above St. Ulrich and within walking distance. It is the oldest church of the valley and dedicated to St. Jacob. In a picturesque setting it displays beautiful frescos around the choir and sculptures surrounding the altar.