SAN VENDEMIANO, SEPTEMBER 23, 2026 – One hundred years ago, a flight destined to go down in the history of Italian civil aviation connected Venice (Italy) and Vienna (Austria).
To commemorate the centennial of the first Italian civil flight on this route, the Municipality of San Vendemiano, together with SV Arte, presents “Wings Over the Hills. One Hundred Years Since the Transadriatica Venice-Vienna Flight,” a comprehensive program of cultural events that will kick off on Saturday, September 26, and run through November 8. The opening ceremony is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. in the exhibition halls of City Hall (Via Alcide de Gasperi 55), where the exhibition curated by Claudia Meneghin in collaboration with Lorena Gava will be on display. Following the opening ceremony, there will also be a musical performance by singer Giada Valenti and a toast.
The exhibition—which is free and open on Saturdays from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and on Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.—brings together historical photographs, memorabilia, and documents related to the first civilian flights from the “G. Nicelli” Airport on the Lido of Venice, alongside a selection of contemporary artworks dedicated to the theme of flight. Among the items on display are a radial engine with its original propeller, along with vintage cameras and other memorabilia that allow visitors to retrace the pioneering years of civil aviation. Among the featured artists is the renowned illustrator Renato Casaro, creator of the work “In attesa del volo” (“Waiting for the Flight”), which was chosen for the exhibition’s poster and whose artistic photograph by Pietro Casonato was provided by the Ca’ Lozzio Incontri Association of Oderzo.
At the heart of the exhibition is the figure of engineer Renato Morandi, born in Ancona in 1902 and founder, together with his family, of the “Transadriatica” Air Navigation Corporation. In 1925, the company moved to Venice, choosing the Lido as its base and thus contributing to the development of Italy’s first civilian air routes using land-based aircraft.
In August 1926, Morandi led Italy’s first civilian flight between Venice and Vienna, a feat that would usher in a new era for the nation’s commercial aviation. His life, however, came to a tragic end in 1930 at the Littorio Airport while he was photographing one of his company’s aircraft. From there, Transadriatica eventually merged into the company that would become Alitalia, thus making Morandi a central figure in the history of Italian civil aviation. This story remained largely unknown for a long time but has come to light thanks in part to Dr. Pier Paolo Becich of San Servolo, the current owner of the villa that once belonged to the Morandi family in the hamlet of San Michele in San Pietro di Feletto, and author of the book *Il Leone Alato* (*The Winged Lion*), a modern novel inspired by the history of Transadriatica.
