Outdoor Museum San Michele/Debela griža and Multimedia Museum of Mount San Michele

The Monte San Michele/Debela Griža open-air museum is one of the most famous war sites of the First World War on the Soča/Isonzo Front, preserving among its four peaks the remains of the war and various memorials erected after the war. The open-air museum platform is also home to the Multimedia Museum of the First World War at Monte San Michele/Debela Griža, which offers visitors a new way to learn about the history of the First World War through multimedia and virtual reality.

The open-air museum at Debela Griža/Monte San Michele represents one of the most famous war zones of the First World War on the Soča Front. Until the Sixth Battle of the Battle of the Bulge in 1916, this strategically important hill was the scene of fierce fighting, as evidenced by the 13 military cemeteries. Today, among the four peaks of this karst outcrop, there are numerous World War I relics and various memorials erected after the war.
The best way to visit the open-air museum is to walk the entire footpath. If you follow the signs, you can see all the most important Italian and Austro-Hungarian remains in the area. The starting point is the viewing platform, from where the path leads to the nearby General Lukačić's Café. Not far away are the two entrances to the Third Army artillery tunnel, a vast underground structure used by the Italian army. Along Peak 3 you can see part of a gun firing line, and at Peak 2 the entrance to the Schönburgtunnel opens up. In 1922, during the Fascist era, the Debela Griža was declared a sacred zone (Zona Sacra), which is when the idea of creating the Percorso dei Cippi (Trail of Memorials) was conceived. It starts at the Debela Griža and winds along the ridge to the Martini/S. Martino del Carso cemetery and the Italian moat that was the target of a gas attack on 29 June 1916.

The Multimedia Museum of the First World War at Debela Griža is also located on the open-air viewing platform of the museum. This offers visitors a unique virtual reality (VR) experience, allowing them to see scenes in the firing trenches, hear stories from war correspondents, relive the gas attack and fly over the Doberdoba/Doberdò plain. Visitors can see reconstructions of the Cima 3 gun gallery and the cavern on 2D and 3D interactive maps, and take a virtual walk through the sites of the First World War in Friuli Venezia Giulia.
The mobile augmented reality (AR) app for the Debela Griža/San Michele Open Air Museum area is an additional offer. By purchasing a museum ticket, visitors can activate the enriched content, which offers more information on monuments, trails, Cima 3 galleries and fortified lines.