Museo di Storia Naturale

The Museum set up in the former Primary School of Chies d'Alpago is owned by the Unione Montana Alpago and is opened thanks to the collaboration of the Association Alpago Storia Natura.

It was conceived 25 years ago by Ivan Fossa, passionate naturalist of Puos d'Alpago, in response to the numerous requests of local scholars and teachers who wished to see the great naturalistic richness of the territory to be made known to children gathered and preserved in a single structure, children, families and all lovers of the rich biodiversity of the territory of Belluno. The installations are distributed over the three floors of the building and offer, with educational orientation, interesting collections and finds from all sections of the Natural Sciences related to the Alpago basin and the entire province of Belluno.

The visit to the Museum begins with the section dedicated to the Zoology of vertebrates on the ground floor. Here are represented all the fauna groups of the territory of Belluno: fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals perfectly preserved and donated by Ivan Fossa himself. Continuing the visit to the first floor, we add the rich collections of insects, spiders, butterflies and mollusks.

Two rooms are also dedicated to Geology and Mineralogy and analyze the different characteristic aspects of the territory and numerous finds that testify the geological history of the Alpago and the Dolomites. Some showcases deepen the Paleontology, very rare is for example the jaw of Odontoceto (species similar to the dolphin, that populated the ancient sea of the Alpago), the Archaeology, with ancient Roman finds found in the site of Staol di Curago near Pieve d'Alpago, and the Human Anatomy explained through in-depth educational panels. On the top floor there is a large room dedicated to Botany with the particular dioramas that faithfully reproduce some environments populated by animals and prehistoric hunters, the rich collections of mushrooms (mycotheca) and woods in section (xiloteca).