Margherita Hut: the remote mountain cabin that’s Europe’s highest building!

2 min read

Located up in the Italian Alps, 4,554 metres above sea level or, if you prefer, 15,000 feet, the Margherita Hut is Europe’s highest building as well as one of the world’s most remote mountain cabins.
Perched on the summit of Punta Gnifetti, near the border between Italy and Switzerland, it is named after Margherita of Savoy, Queen of Italy, who inaugurated it in 1893.

Originally an important research centre for high-elevation medicine, it has since expanded to also become a mountain cabin for brave mountain climbers and it was completely rebuilt in 1980.
The Italian Alpine Club (CAI) authorized the build in 1889 to create a high-altitude scientific laboratory and shelter.
It was prefabricated in Italy, transported via mules and human labor, and built atop Punta Gnifetti (Signalkuppe) between 1890 and 1893. When Queen Margherita of Savoy visited the hut for its opening on August 18, 1893, she spent the night there. Under the guidance of Angelo Mosso, the hut became a renowned high-mountain medicine research facility in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The original structure was replaced in 1980 with a modern, two-story, prefabricated wooden building designed to withstand extreme alpine conditions, and it continues to serve as a laboratory and meteorology station still today.

Either way, Margherita Hut is one of the many huts in the Monte Rossa massif, but at its high, it’s not only the highest one of them, but also the highest building in Europe.
It’s open in the summer, from early June to early September, and offers sleeping accommodations for up to 70 people, but a small section with only 12 beds is also available in the wintertime, just in case someone is crazy enough to make the climb.
Moreover, since 2017, civil marriage ceremonies have been authorized by the mayor of the nearest town, Alagna Valsesia, but in order to take part in such a unique experience, you need to climb all the way to the Margherita Hut, not accessible by helicopter, as the only way to reach it is on foot, and that usually takes two days and requires physical fitness and a good knowledge of alpine techniques!
For more impressive mountain-top attractions, there is also Europe’s highest train station, but this is another story !