In 1956, the year of the Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo, the first eyewear exhibition was inaugurated in Pieve di Cadore, but the Eyewear Museum was born only in 1990.
The Museum collects and preserves the heritage of objects, images, written and oral testimonies on the history of eyewear and other optical instruments, and documents the development of the eyewear industry and its annexes in the Province of Belluno.
Inside we find magnificent collections of glasses, cases, optical instruments, binoculars, telescopes, which trace the passages, the meaning and the history of the lens, in its various forms starting from the Middle Ages.
All those who choose to visit the Dolomites will be catapulted into a dark room, where they can admire jointed glasses made of bone, horn, wood and metal; bow, wig or hat glasses; From the beginning of the eighteenth century, enamelled metals were born, and glasses in coral, mother of pearl, whalebones, and shapes conditioned by fashion: face-à-main glasses, real jewels that can also be enclosed in the handle of a stick, in a fan or in a necklace.
In the twentieth century, fashion and industry will contribute to the birth of new shapes and colors, created with innovative materials such as aluminum, celluloid, nickel, ebonite, synthetic resins and titanium.
The Museum also has a rich collection of eyeglass cases: in ivory, leather, gold, painted wood, silver filigree and much more that is worth discovering by visiting it.
Discovering the Eyewear Museum
We organize day visits and individual and group cultural tours for the house of Titian and for the Eyewear Museum. Both activities can be booked or individually.
