The adventurous flight of Garnerin’s balloon from the skies of Paris to Lake Bracciano

Parisians had not yet recovered from the magnificence of Napoleon Bonaparte’s coronation at Notre Dame, which took place on 2 December 1804, because the celebrations in the capital were still going crazy. On December 16, the French emperor and his wife Josephine had planned a sumptuous reception at the Hotel de Ville, when the guests broke into thunderous applause for the arrival of six hot air balloons made by the inventor and pioneer of flight, Colonel André-Jacques Garnerin (1769-1823).

The most majestic one was called the Balloon of Consecration (Ballon du Sacre), it had a nacelle in the shape of an imperial crown and was adorned with flags and drapes around the silk sphere crossed by the gold inscription “25 Frimaio, year XIII, Paris, Emperor Napoleon I crowned by His Holiness Pius VII”. As many as three thousand lanterns (5,000 according to others) illuminated the spacecraft which cost 23,500 francs: a fortune. Garnerin was someone who knew what he was doing and had even been at the court of the Tsar of all the Russias to show the progress of the “lighter than air” challenge that he had raised above the skies of Petersburg.

The strong wind carries away the silk balloon richly adorned with writings and lanterns

Before letting the balloon of consecration rise as an omen of Napoleon’s fortunes and glory, the inventor had left a writing in the spacecraft: “The balloon bearing this letter took flight from Paris on the evening of the 25th of May [che secondo il calendario della rivoluzione corrispondeva al 16 dicembre]by Mr. Garnerin, privileged aeronaut of His Majesty the Emperor of Russia, and ordinary of the French Government, on the occasion of the celebration given by the city of Paris to His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon. Those who find this balloon are asked to take care of it and inform Mr. Garnerin about the place where it landed.” That evening a very strong wind was blowing, and the balloon, immediately out of control and at the mercy of the adverse weather, was dragged southwards until it was lost on the horizon.

The superstition of the emperor and the dispute between two dukes for the “Ballon du Sacre”

The vagaries of the weather allowed the balloon to travel approximately 1,200 kilometers in 22 hours, at such a height as to allow it to overcome the barrier of the Alps and then travel across half of Italy, until it flew over Rome. Lowering a lot, on the Via Cassia, it touched the ruins of Nero’s Tomb and the slight impact caused the loss of the pommel of the imperial crown which fell to the ground. Napoleon, who was extremely superstitious, did not take it well at all, because the fall of the eagle that the Corsican had chosen as a symbol was ominous, moreover linked to the emperor Nero, known for being a tyrant. Garnerin immediately fell out of favor. Furthermore, epigrams and jokes flourished on the episode which irritated Napoleon even more. In any case, the balloon, having regained a little altitude, had finished its flight and collapsed on the waters of Lake Bracciano, near Anguillara. The recovery was carried out by men in the service of the Duke of Bracciano Giovanni Torlonia, but since the ball had fallen in an area owned by the Duke of Mondragone a dispute was triggered between the two nobles.

Pope Pius VII takes the find on display in Rome

A letter from the Duke of Mondragone to Cardinal Ettore Consalvi, Secretary of State of Pius VII, found in 1927, recounts the facts as follows: “Yesterday evening, 17 December, around twenty-four hours a globe of enormous size was seen appearing in the air which little by little fell into Lake Bracciano in whose waters it looked like a houseboat. Several shipwrights were sent out that same night to seize it and bring it to land, but some altercations arose between them, which prevented the operation. When they returned this morning, they transported him to the shore by means of a boat.” The dispute between the aristocrats over ownership was resolved by Pope Pius VII, who had the ball requisitioned, however it had fallen on the territory of the Papal State of which he was sovereign, had it brought to Rome and exhibited in the Loggias of the Vatican Palace where it would remain until 1814, when it would be moved to the Vatican Floreria, closed in a chest. It will remain there for over a century and a half.

In 1978 Paul VI donated “The oldest known aeronautical relic”

On 22 July 1978, Pope Paul VI donated the Consecration Balloon to the Italian Air Force, handing it over to General Giuseppe Pesce who had the task of creating and developing the Vigna di Valle Museum. On the other hand, Giovanni Montini was the first pontiff in history to have flown. When handing over the find he underlined that “the singular relic documents a significant moment in the daring history that led man to open new ways of faster communication with other human beings in the sky”. After a long and complex restoration carried out in collaboration with the Superintendency and concluded in 2023, the casing of Garnerin’s balloon today welcomes visitors in a three-metre high display case at the entrance to the Air Force museum structure, right in front of Lake Bracciano where it fell in 1804. At the foot stands the writing in Italian and English that Garnerin’s balloon, “Ballon du sacre”, is “The oldest relic known aeronautical figure, the only survivor of the hot air balloon era”.

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