This building in the Paris region is the last surviving remnant of the world's first airfield.

In Viry-Châtillon, in the Essonne department, the Port-Aviation Officers' Mess hides an astonishing tale: the story of the world's first organized airfield, inaugurated in 1909, where aviation pioneers let their quirky flying machines roar.

In Essonne, in Viry-Châtillon, the history of aviation worldwide has left its mark! The Mess des officiers de Port-Aviation, a discreet building in the greater Paris region, is today regarded as the sole architectural remnant of the former Port-Aviation airfield, long considered the world’s first organized aerodrome. Opened in May 1909, this Essonne site hosted runways, grandstands, flight schools, workshops and onlookers eager to cheer on these “mechanical birds.”

At the start of the 20th century, flying wasn’t the comfortable, stable experience we know today. It was a fragile, noisy, experimental undertaking. Aircraft droned along at low altitude, engines coughed and spluttered, pilots were acrobats in caps, and every takeoff felt a bit like a bet placed with the sky.

It is in this context that Port-Aviation was born. The site was developed at Viry-Châtillon in 1909, with the aim of creating a genuine aviation hub near Paris. The project is closely associated with architect Guillaume Tronchet, who was tasked with designing the facilities for this new air age. The runways of the old aerodrome have since given way to the Port-Aviation district, but the Officers’ Mess buildings endure as a precious remnant of this venture.

The complex today known as the “Mess des officiers” consists of three bâtiments historiques. The main building originally served, from 1909 to 1918, as a reception hall and offices, before becoming a mess when French, British and Belgian troops occupied the airfield during World War I.

Blériot, Farman, Delagrange, Roland Garros, Pégoud… great pioneers carried out their first flights there: on October 18, 1909, the Count de Lambert took off from Port-Aviation to fly over Paris. Today, the Mess des officiers is labeled “Patrimoine d’intérêt régional”, a recognition conferred by the Île-de-France region to buildings not protected as historic monuments but with proven heritage value.

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This building in the Paris region is the last surviving remnant of the world's first airfield.

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