page_title: Volandia
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Volandia / History
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Cappella Caproni a Volandia
context_page_description: Volandia Park and Flight Museum is the largest Italian aeronautical museum, as well as one of the largest in Europe. Volandia displays over 100 aircraft on a total area of over 250,000 m² - 32,000 m² of which indoor -. The museum, located in Somma Lombardo and adjacent to the Milan-Malpensa Airport, is placed in the buildings of the historic Officine Aeronautiche Caproni 1910.
  Since its foundation in 2010, the park-museum has been enriched with numerous collections, including the Luciano Piazzai Modeling Collection, the Ogliari Collection and the Flaminio Bertoni Museum; it also houses the Gruppo Bertone Collection, which brings together some of the most famous cars designed by the Turin car body shop.
  The complex is located within the Ticino Park.
context_section_description: During a conference held at the Castello Visconti  in San Vito, in Somma Lombardo, on 11 November 2006, a project was launched for the establishment of a large aeronautical museum to be built at the former Officine Caproni  in Vizzola Ticino (VA ). This museum should have retraced the aeronautical history of Lombard industries, such as Caproni, SIAI-Marchetti from Sesto Calende, Aermacchi, Agusta, and Piero Magni, and of the province of Varese. The chosen site was located near the Milan-Malpensa airport, and was easily accessible from Milan. Numerous local political leaders joined the initiative, such as the president of the province of Varese Marco Reguzzoni, the President of the Regional Council of Lombardy Alberoni, numerous mayors, and aeronautics industry managers such as Carmelo Cosentino (CEO of Alenia Aermacchi) and Giuseppe Orsi (CEO of Agusta Westland), the president of the Aero Club of Italy Giuseppe Leoni, and the Italian Air Force.
  Fondazione Museo dell'Aeronautica was set up, of which Reguzzoni became president, who provided to buy at a favorable price from AgustaWestland the area of the former Officine Caproni, including warehouses and offices. The realization was carried out with a commitment signed by the Lombardy Region, the province of Varese, and the mayors of the municipalities of Cardano al Campo, Ferno, Lonate Pozzolo, Gallarate, Samarate, Somma Lombardo, Varese and Vizzola Ticino, and 19 million euros were made available, to be paid out progressively for the restoration of the buildings, the fitting out and the endowment of the exhibition spaces.
  The Volandia Park and Museum was officially opened to the public on 8 May 2010. Already in its first year, Volandia could count on a museum heritage of over 30 aircraft and a thousand models on display.
  In 2012, following the acquisition of several models, including the American twin-engine Douglas DC-3, a new 4000 m² exhibition area dedicated to commercial aviation was inaugurated. The Douglas DC-3 by Volandia is the only functioning specimen exhibited in Italy.
  Almost all of the Ogliari collection was transferred to Volandia in 2015. The collection presents a large number of rail and road transport vehicles, dating from the eighteenth century to the second half of the twentieth century. From 2018 the museum also houses the Bertone collection, a patrimony composed of 76 cars and including vehicles of great importance such as the Lamborghini Miura, Espada and Countach, a road Lancia Stratos, an Alfa Romeo Giulia SS, a Giulia Sprint, a Montreal and numerous prototypes designed by Nuccio Bertone. The cars of the Turin body shop are added to the works of art, cars and sketches of Flaminio Bertoni, another famous Italian designer and artist.
  On 8 April 2017, in the presence of the former football players Claudio Gentile and Pietro Vierchowod, the presidential Douglas DC-9 was inaugurated, an airplane that carried numerous Heads of State and Government, including the President of the Republic Sandro Pertini and Pope John Paul II, and twin of the one who brought the Azzurri home after the victorious 1982 World Cup. In 2018 the MD-80 I-Smel, the first MD-80 of the Meridiana fleet, now Air Italy, was donated to the museum park.
  In 2019, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, Volandia presented, with the participation of astronaut Paolo Nespoli, the new pavilion of Astronomy and Space. During "Linate Air Show", Volandia has also exposed a Yakovlev Yak-40 completely restored.
  On January 25, 2020 a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter arrived at Volandia. The aircraft, from the Luftwaffenmuseum in Berlin, was officially inaugurated on February 8, 2020. From July 4, 2020, the second prototype of the Aermacchi M-346 trainer is also kept in Volandia. Before the exhibition, the aircraft will remain inside the Volandia workshop until the assembly operations are completed.
caption: Caproni's Chapel in the museum
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