Angelo Mosso Scientific Institute

The Angelo Mosso Scientific Institute at Col d’Olen, a mountain pass at an altitude of 2,900 metres between Gressoney and Alagna, is one of the jewels in the crown of Italian scientific history. Founded in 1907 by the distinguished physiologist from Chieri, who was Professor of Physiology at the University of Turin from 1879 to 1910, it paved the way for experiments in biology, medicine and meteorology at high altitude.

The aim of its construction was to complement the scientific activities carried out at the Capanna Regina Margherita and to provide support for scholars, who could stay there for even long periods whilst conducting their research. The institute was a veritable sanctuary of science, with laboratories equipped with precision instruments, a library and comfortable rooms for scholars from all over the world, who, in the interwar period, lived there even when temperatures dropped to 30 degrees below zero.

In June 2000, a fire caused by a lightning strike almost completely destroyed the building, but reconstruction was swift and the restoration work was completed as early as 2006, bringing it back into use. Since 2023, a complete refurbishment of the building has been underway with the aim of transforming and modernising it to fulfil a threefold function: its historical role as a centre for scientific research; its role as a museum documenting and disseminating information on past and current research activities in the area; and a hotel and catering facility.

The exhibition space is now complete and features an interactive tour divided into three sections: one section is dedicated to exploring the history of the Institute and the people who shaped it; a second section is dedicated to the equipment and research carried out by Angelo Mosso to study the effects of altitude on the human body. Finally, the last room is dedicated to illustrating the soils, geology, flora, snow, avalanches and glaciers of Monte Rosa.

GEO-TOPICS: geomorphology; petrography; pedology