Excelsior Partisan Airport Museum

In autumn 1944, the partisans of the 2nd Langhe Division, under the command of Pietro Balbo (battle name “Poli” or “commander North”), built a runway with the help of local farmers. The airfield was intended to facilitate the arrival and departure of Allied aircraft, mainly used to transport weapons and the wounded. The runway was designed by engineer Pasquale Balaclava, who initially planned it would be 900 metres long. The first landing took place on 17^th November 1944, but a few weeks later, the Germans managed to disable the structure. The partisans brought it back into use in the spring of 1945, extending it to 1,100 metres.

The Museum was Inaugurated in 2016 and is currently managed by Israt, the Institute for the History of the Resistance and Contemporary Society in the Province of Asti. Visitors can see a multimedia reconstruction of the runway with videos and narration. Six sections trace and recreate in detail the history of the Excelsior airport, closely tied to the development of the partisan movement in the Langhe and the process of Liberation in Italy.

Photo gallery