page_title: Villa Sormani
section_title: First Italian balloon flight
hierarchical_section_title: Villa Sormani / First Italian balloon flight
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Prima ascensione di Paolo Andreani da Moncucco (1784) English: Paolo Andreani da Moncucco First Italian balloon flight (1784)
context_page_description: The baroque Villa Sormani is in the village of Moncucco in the city of Brugherio. The Villa Sormani was the site chosen by Count Paolo Andreani to demonstrate the first public balloon flight on Italian soil in 1784. In the grounds is a church that was moved from Switzerland.
context_section_description: Paolo Andreani had seen a model balloon built by Agostino Gerli and his brothers ascend a few feet powered by hot air. Andreani undertook to fund the Gerli brothers to build a much larger hot-air balloon with a diameter of 23 m (75 ft) that would be capable of allowing a man to take to the air. The balloon took 24 days to make and its laden weight was about 1,300 kg (2,900 lb). The first flight was on 25 February 1784. An invited crowd then gathered on 13 March 1784 at the Villa Sormani which was his brother's residence. The spectators saw Andreani and two of his assistants ascend to a height of over 1,500 m (4,900 ft) whilst the balloon travelled several kilometres. The emperor who missed the spectacle arranged for a medal to be made. The medal featured Gerli's balloon on one side and Andreani on the other to commemorate the ascent.
caption: Paolo Andreani da Moncucco in 1784
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