The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella inaugurated Casa Italia Milano, set up at the Triennale, on the day of the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games. The Head of State, accompanied by his daughter, Mrs. Laura, was welcomed by the President of CONI Luciano Buonfiglio, the Secretary General and Head of Mission of Italy Team Carlo Mornati and the Minister for Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi. After visiting the Hall used for the celebration of the Italian medals, the President of the Republic went to the Hall of Honor of the Triennale, where Mrs. Laura cut the ribbon, officially inaugurating Casa Italia Milano. Also present at the ceremony were the Vice President of CONI, Marco Di Paola, the President of the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation Giovanni Malagò, the President of the Italian Paralympic Committee Marco Giunio De Sanctis, the heads of Sport and Health, the President Marco Mezzaroma and the CEO Diego Nepi Molineris, the Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala, the President of the Lombardy Region Attilio Fontana, as well as numerous members of the National Council and Committee, Presidents of national and international federations, associated disciplines and promotion bodies and honorary members of the IOC, including Franco Carraro and Mario Pescante.
During the ceremony (photo Ferdinando Mezzelani/CONI), at the end of the performance of Mameli's anthem, the first to take the floor was the President of CONI Luciano Buonfiglio: "Mr. President, Mrs. Laura, welcome to Casa Italia. It is the first time in history that the President of the Republic celebrates the opening of Casa Italia in Italy. Two years ago you did us the honor of coming to Paris, but never in the past had it happened that one of your predecessors attended this ceremony in our country. Casa Italia in Italy, Casa Italia in casa. Forgive me for the pun, but this is where energy, vision, tradition and efficiency come from. Today here in front of you there are illustrious captains of industry, prestigious managers who with their companies support and support CONI and Italian sport. At this moment we are showing our country in its best aspect: a sporting, industrial and economic whole, gathered around the man who represents the unity of the nation, our Head of State, and for this we are extremely grateful. We are here a few hours before the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, an event that will be followed on television by over two and a half billion viewers. An event that empowers us and at the same time makes us proud to honor the competitive and organizational tradition that we boast, placing sport at the center as a distinctive emblem of success and an extraordinary tool for cohesion and growth in the interest of humanity. We have all worked together: the Government, local institutions, the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation, the whole world of sport has worked together, supported by institutions, sponsors and partners to ensure that Italy is a winner. In 1984, thanks to a happy intuition of my predecessors, Franco Carraro and Mario Pescante, on the occasion of the Los Angeles Games, CONI was the first Olympic Committee in the world to design this reception space, which over time has become much more than a simple hospitality house: it is the excellence of Made in Italy that makes our country unique. But it is also the place to celebrate the real protagonists: the athletes. From the Triennale Casa Italia launches an innovative message that does not lose contact with its roots, but feeds them thanks to the theme that is the founding concept of this edition's project: Muse, the origin of inspiration, the guardian of memory, the invisible force that transforms thought into harmony. It is what over the years continues to generate beauty, knowledge, creativity. It is Italy itself: a country capable of surprising, of creating wonder, of taking root in the global collective imagination. Musa is everything that leaves a mark by crossing time. From the works of great artists, to science, to design, to sport. It means connection between culture and innovation, between past and future, between mountains and cities, between our millenary history and contemporary challenges. It therefore means telling the story of Italy as a place of creativity without borders, as a source of ideas and emotion. Mr President, it is an honour to inaugurate this space in your presence. On behalf of CONI, Italian athletes and all those who have made this project possible, we welcome you to Casa Italia: a place that projects our image, our strength and our beauty to the world. Together with the Secretary General and Head of Mission Carlo Mornati, all the members of the CONI National Council and Committee, our partners and institutions, we say to you once again: Thank you, President".
Then it was the turn of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella: "The inauguration of Casa Italia is always a moment of great involvement. When the Olympics are in other countries, as happened in the last summer edition in Paris, Casa Italia is a window on Italy, the place that depicts it and represents the entire Olympic world gathered in the country where the Games are held. This time, in this happy circumstance such as the Winter Olympics in Italy, Casa Italia takes on another meaning: that of a gateway to Italy, a place that expresses the quintessence of the country, its characters, its culture and its lifestyle. We are just a few hours away from the Opening Ceremony of the Games. The emotion and anticipation are growing. It is a source of great satisfaction to see Italy at the center of such an important dimension of international life, such as sport. For this reason, to all our athletes, to all those who follow them, support them and have supported them in their preparation, goes the gratitude and the most intense wish for good activity, with the basic meaning that the Olympics collect and that these Milan-Cortina express even more, that of a welcome to all those who will come, to the athletes - there are almost three thousand of them - to those who accompany them, to the technicians, coaches, managers, spectators who will come in large numbers from every continent. Casa Italia also has this meaning of welcome to those who will travel to our country, not only to the places of the races but also elsewhere. A welcome that expresses Italy's vocation for dialogue, concord and collaboration. Congratulations for Casa Italia and best wishes".
Afterwards, the Head of State, always accompanied by Mrs. Laura, visited the exhibition set up at Casa Italia and divided into nine sections, each dedicated to the muse of a discipline: language, architecture, figurative arts, landscape, taste, music, dramatic art, innovation and sport. The representation of each muse is entrusted to an iconic object of the Games from the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. In the section dedicated to sports memorabilia, Mattarella was accompanied by three multiple Olympic champions: former alpine skiers Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni and former cross-country skier Manuela Di Centa. The Italian Olympians, together with the President of CONI Luciano Buonfiglio, the Secretary General and Head of Mission of the Italian team Carlo Mornati and the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi, took part in the lunch with the Head of State - seated between Tomba and Compagnoni - and Mrs. Laura. The chef of Casa Italia Davide Oldani prepared for the occasion zafferano and Milanese rice D'O, veal "Rustin negàa" with Italian sauce and a "Milano-Cortina" spoon panettone with almond puff pastry and blueberry compote. The courses were accompanied by two ambassador wines of Made in Italy at Casa Italia: Casale del Giglio - Lazio Bianco IGT Bellone Anthium 2025 and L''Astemia - Barolo DOCG Cannubi 2021. Also present at the lunch were the IOC Honorary Members Franco Carraro and Mario Pescante and the IOC Honorary Member Francesco Ricci Bitti, the Presidents of FISI and FISG, Flavio Roda and Andrea Gios, the two-time Olympic cross-country skier of Albertville 1992 and Salt Lake City 2002, Stefania Belmondo, the multiple Olympic medalist in alpine skiing, Isolde Kostner is the gold luge of the 1994 edition of Lillehammer, Gerda Weissensteiner. Many champions of yesterday, waiting to celebrate those of tomorrow. (AGC)
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