Useful information At the Cultural Centre in Longarone you can visit the first-ever museum dedicated to the history of Longarone and the Vajont tragedy. The visitor route, mapped out so as to follow the chronological order of events, runs in an unexpectedly delicate fashion through the two exhibition halls, which are connected by a dark tunnel designed to symbolise the “before” and “after” of that fateful night of 9th October 1963. A collection of pictures, documents, footage and exhibits will take the visitor on a journey through the history of a town that was struck by the greatest post-war tragedy in Italy right in the middle of the boom period of the 1960s. A display cabinet at the entrance contains a scale model of the Vajont Dam, which is interesting in order to appreciate just what a striking work of engineering the dam was. The museum is a way of keeping alive a local history that was scarred forever by the disaster, and its aim is to awaken strong emotions in the visitor, as well as an acute awareness of the fact that the value of life and the lessons of the past are indispensable foundations on which to build the future. The name chosen for the museum, “LONGARONE VAJONT, a moment in history” is designed to explicitly underline the content of the visitor route, which has no claims to being an exhaustive examination of the tragedy it tells the story of: what the museum aims to offer is a look at the everyday life of a town that was completely wiped out and later rebuilt thanks to the tenacity, determination and faith in the future demonstrated by its people. The museum is open to visitors from Monday to Friday, from 10.00 to 12.30 and from 15.30 to 18.00; on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays it is open from 10.00 to 12.30 and from 14.00 to 18.00. Guided visits are also organised to other Vajont Memorial Sites: the Dam and its crown, the Church of Michelucci with the “Pietre Vive” museum, the Bell Tower of Pirago, an authentic symbol of the tragedy, and the Monumental Cemetery of the Victims of the Vajont in the village of Fortogna.   Information: Pro Loco Longarone - Tel. +39 0437 770119  www.prolocolongarone.it     info@prolocolongarone.it