A mountain-top museum designed by architect Zaha Hadid has opened on the Kronplatz peak in the Dolomites, northern Italy – 7,464 ft above sea level.

Inaugurated last week, the 11,000 sq ft Messner Mountain Museum (MMM) Corones is the sixth and final cultural centre in a project backed by mountaineer Reinhold Messner, the first person to climb the world’s highest 14 mountains.

Construction took more than two years and involved removing 140,000 cubic ft of earth from the top of the Kronplatz peak to embed the structure.

‘The particular thing about this museum is the combination of the location, the view, and the architecture,’ says Messner. ‘The theme is rock – original, traditional mountain climbing is to rise again here.’

Visitors to the museum enter via the structure’s top level before walking down through three floors of exhibits dedicated to alpine history. The bottom floor features glass-enclosed viewing windows as well as a 430 sq ft terrace with vistas stretching from the Alps to the Dolomites.

MMM Corones is open during summer and the winter ski season. It follows the construction of five other Messner Mountain Museums dotted around the South Tyrol province in northern Italy – all devoted to mountaineering.

The peak can be reached by cable car, but those feeling adventurous can opt for a four or five-hour hike to the museum.