Places of interest in Ortisei
Museum de Gherdëina
The local heritage museum of Val Gardena documents the history and culture of the Val Gardena valley with numerable exhibits ranging from typical wooden toys to prehistoric finds.
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.
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.
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 of Ortisei (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.
At the lower level of the Convention Center of Ortisei, on the right side of the main entry is the Exhibit of Arts and Crafts.
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.
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 Val Gardean – “Bera Luis”.
