The Museo Nazionale Storico degli Alpini gathers the history of the Alpini corps; it stands on the summit of the Doss Trento, also known as monte Verruca, near the mausoleum of Cesare Battisti, and is part of the Rete Trentino Grande Guerra.
What to see
Inside is gathered the history of the Alpini corps, from its distant founding to the present day. In the eight side niches are displayed trophies, medals, photographs, personal objects, weapons and various relics. On the entrance wall, to the south, are shown the portraits of General Giuseppe Perrucchetti, the father of the Alpini, and of Cesare Battisti, together with the Austrian flag that once flew over the Buonconsiglio castle. Continuing toward the opposite side you reach the shrine of the gold medals of the Alpine troops, where there is a work by Paolo Caccia Dominioni, La morte del capitano, in memory of Captain Giuseppe Grandi of the «Tirano» Alpini battalion, who won a gold medal for military valour. At the centre of the shrine is a large stone from Monte Grappa; on the walls the names of those decorated in the wars fought by the Alpini and a fanciful geographic representation of the places where they made their history, also by Caccia Dominioni. The shrine also holds a triptych by Mario Urbani, Falchi e prede, made in the trenches during the Great War, and two guns used by the Alpini in the Second World War.
The museum arose on the initiative of the Legione trentina, the association of Great War volunteers, with the support of the high command of the Alpine troops and of the Associazione Nazionale Alpini. The idea was taken up in 1938 by the Italian government, which set up the Fondazione Acropoli Alpina, and it was decided to place it on the Doss Trento, near the mausoleum; the original project, very imposing, provided for access roads and a forecourt, and the road, built by a detachment of Alpini from all five Alpine divisions, was inaugurated in 1942. After the Second World War the cost of the work was no longer sustainable and the foundation gave up the original project; in 1953 the comune of Trento donated the former Austrian powder magazine, and the museum was officially inaugurated in 1958, on the occasion of the thirty-first national gathering of the Alpini in Trento. For some years, because of the crumbling of the Doss's walls, it could not be reached: the road was made safe and the museum had a second inauguration in May 1964. Given the smallness of its spaces, it has always lent itself to being a shrine more than a museum proper, and Paolo Caccia Dominioni's remark survives: «The museum is fine but small». In 1978 the Foundation was dissolved and its functions and heritage passed to the Ministry of Defence, which has run it since. In August 2017 the museum was closed to the public for renovation, with works begun in 2018 to a design by the architect Andrea Tomasi, in which the 2nd Alpine Engineer Sapper Regiment and ANA volunteers took part; on 13 October 2019 the ceremony to inaugurate the building was held, in the presence of civil and military authorities and many Alpini groups.
Visiting
The museum stands on the summit of the Doss Trento, beside the Battisti mausoleum; given the recent history of closure and reopening, hours, access and the state of visits should be checked on the museum's official website before going up.
Our editors' tip
In the shrine look for the large Monte Grappa stone at the centre and, on the walls, the fanciful map of the places of the Alpine campaigns: they are the work of Paolo Caccia Dominioni, the same man who called the museum «fine but small».
