Museum for the Memory of Ustica

The reassembled wreckage of Itavia Flight 870, lost over the Tyrrhenian Sea

Address Via di Saliceto 3/22

The Museo per la Memoria di Ustica is housed in a former tram depot on the edge of the Bolognina district. The reconstructed fuselage of the DC-9 hangs in the centre of the space, lit from above, with 81 mirrors and 81 black lamps surrounding it — the work of the artist Christian Boltanski, who took the commission to make the museum more than a forensic exhibit.

Recovered personal items — shoes, glasses, watches — are displayed in cases around the perimeter. It is one of the most affecting museum spaces in Italy, a long way from the tourist track and free to enter.

things to do museum
A story
On 27 June 1980 a DC-9 from Bologna to Palermo broke apart in mid-air near the island of Ustica, killing all 81 people on board. The cause has never been definitively established — most evidence points to a missile during a military encounter the Italian and NATO governments denied for decades — and the wreckage has become a memorial and a quiet political accusation.

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