HISTORY

A long, passionate and enthralling story links together the Ghisallo Pass to cycling, and viceversa. Laden with memories, this hill, which enjoys beautiful panoramas, is one of the best known places for cyclists of all ages and of all categories, agonistic and not. In fact it is on top of this climb that have decided or ended some of the most famous competitions in the history of cycling: from the Giro d’italia to the Giro di Lombardia, from the Coppa Agostoni to the Bicycle Day. For this reason, Ghisallo is a goal every year of thousands of sportsmen who go so far as to visit the Sanctuary, which dates back to the Seventeenth century, where a painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary, called the Madonna del Ghisallo, proclaimed Patroness of Cyclists from 1949 , with a papal Brief of Pius XII. The year before Pope Pacelli Pius XII had blessed and lit in Rome the great torch of bronze, which was placed inside the Sanctuary: since then, many visitors have come here from all over the world. It is testified by the visitors of the Museum coming, in only 2017, from 57 nations. In 2000, in memory of the event occurred on 1948, the Cycling Museum Madonna del Ghisallo Foundation organized a relay with the participation of some great champions of cycling, from our Lady of Ghisallo to the Vatican for the delivery of the torch to the Holy Father John Paul II, with a meeting that will remain in the memory of all the participants. It took shape the idea of creating a museum of cycling, alongside the Sanctuary, developing a new collection, taking care of the preservation of memorabilia, scientific research and dissemination of this sport, a historical and social phenomenon of great relevance in Italy, Europe and the world. On 31 May 2006, then, Pope Benedict XVI gave the Vatican the blessing to the last stone by solemnizing the final Act of building the museum. The Stone, which can be seen in the central hall of the museum structure, bears the message “Omnia Vincit Amor” (Love Conquers Everything). The Madonna del Ghisallo Cycling Museum is a cycling museum, not just a bicycle museum. Therefore a museum dedicated to the men and women who have used and use the bicycle in everyday life and in sports competitions; but also committed to make known those around the world of the two wheels, and to the agonistic one in particular, they work: the athletes, the producers of the medium, the organizers, the executives of companies, the journalists and other figures perhaps less known but equally Important. There is no, in fact, a more significant place than this, in a region where there are almost 700 cycling companies, more than 12,000 members and about 1200 races in the year. Therefore an institution that wants to collaborate with the various museums in Italy and in the world, going beyond the collections centered on the name of an athlete and his exploits, however important. The Madonna del Ghisallo Cycling Museum mission is to collect, conserve and exploit, starting from spontaneous donations from enthusiasts, sports associations and champions of various eras, the vicissitudes of a technical means, a sport and its actors, the main events that have made the history of cycling, as well as a company that has moved with the bicycle to modernity. Here, also through the meeting of enthusiasts with the protagonists of the sport and the cycling environment that the museum promotes, we want to introduce and study the past and the present of cycling, reflecting on the values, the problems and the future of the practice Cycling and sports.