The watermills on the Olona River are buildings used for milling activities that are scattered along the banks of the Olona River in the Lombardy region of Italy. They reached their peak of development in the 17th century with the presence along the banks of the river of about a hundred milling plants. Thereafter, from the 18th to the 19th century, there was a phase of decline, which ended just after World War II, when there were only about ten active mills still present on the banks of the river. As the centuries passed, their number gradually decreased, and only a small number have survived until the 21st century. Some of them are in a state of abandonment, while others have been recovered for a wide variety of purposes. The presence of the mills, the abundance of local labor, the existence of modern and relevant communication routes along the banks, the presence of local personalities who had substantial capital to invest, and the long tradition of craftsmanship in the Olona Valley allowed the river, which flows through the province of Varese and Milan, to become one of the cradles of Italian industrialization.
History
Origins
Between the springs and Nerviano, the course of the river was once dotted with mills. Since the Middle Ages, milling activity thrived. Such was the number of mills that by the 15th century this activity was a significant economic source for the entire area. Ownership of the mills enabled the authorities to retain control over the surrounding territories. The latter, in fact, was linked to the supply of grain, by the millers of the Alto Milanese, to the city of Milan. Noble families of the time therefore tended to centralize mill properties in order to retain discretionary power over their use, especially in times of famine. This importance was such even in later centuries, and for this reason the Sforza and Visconti Seigniories placed a number of fortifications to garrison the most important groupings of mills on the Olona, taking advantage of existing forts and castles. The stretch of the river where most of the mills were located was between Legnano and Pogliano. The oldest known document in which a mill on the Olona is mentioned is from 1043: it refers to a millstone owned by Pietro Vismara located in "Cogonzio" (a toponym that later disappeared), between the locality "Gabinella" in Legnano and Castegnate, near the church of San Bernardo. Other documents testifying to the presence of mills in Legnano are dated September 12, 1238 ("de subtus Legniano," meaning "south of Legnano") and 1261. The once flourishing wine business in the Altomilanese area was put into crisis in the mid-19th century by a number of vine diseases. The first infection, pébrine, appeared between 1851 and 1852 and caused a rapid decline in the amount of wine produced in Lombardy: hectoliters of wine produced fell from 1,520,000 in 1838 to 550,000 in 1852. The final halt in wine production coincided with the outbreak, between 1879 and 1890, of two other vine diseases: downy mildew and phylloxera. Following these epidemics, wine cultivation in the entire Altomilanese disappeared, and farmers concentrated their efforts on the production of cereals and silkworms. In other wine-growing areas of Lombardy, the problem was solved by grafting species of vines that were immune to the disease (fox grape).
The decrees and regulations for water use
The intensive use of the waters of the Olona River by farmers, millers and artisans required the authorities to issue special regulations (the so-called "Statutes of the roads and waters of the contado of Milan"): this happened the first time in 1346 and then in 1396. These documents explained how the waters were to be exploited in irrigation and for their use as motive power to move the water wheels of mills. From this the importance that the authorities of the time attached to the function of mills can be deduced. The preconditions for the establishment of a consortium among the river water users occurred in 1541, when the so-called Novae Costitutiones (in English, the "new constitutions") were signed. In this case, the new contract, which had a public character, provided for a Regius Judex Commissarius Fluminis Olona (in English, "river commissioner"), who supervised the control of the users of the waters of the Olona. Typically, this function was held by a member of the Senate of Milan. The Novae Costitutiones, and the offices associated with them, remained in effect until 1797. In 1548, a proclamation was issued requiring water users to substantiate, through written documentation, the details of the various uses. Failure to comply with these regulations resulted in the payment of penalties, against which noble families were exempt. In these centuries the distribution of water was not equitable. The richest and most powerful users prevailed over the poorer and defenseless ones. In 1606 a real consortium was established in Milan among the users under the supervision of the river commissioner. It was not a coincidence that the consortium was established in Milan: the water users who had the most conspicuous interests dwelt in the Milanese capital. This consortium association still survives under the name of the Olona River Consortium.
The censuses
In 1606 the Royal Ducal Chamber of Milan commissioned some "ocular inspections" carried out by provincial engineers or guardians of the river, who were assigned to safeguard individual sections of the river. Engineer Pietro Antonio Barca surveyed 106 mills between the source of Rasa di Varese up to the city of Milan, of which 105 were used for grinding grain while the last one, located in Milan and owned by the Reverend Friars of San Vittore Olona, operated a trip hammer for the construction of arms and armor. The first censuses allowed, for the first time, a thorough survey of the mills along the river. It was in the government's interest to find abuses and waste perpetrated by users, and to determine precisely the fees they had to pay for drawing water.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
