The ingenuity of mountain people

More than just farmers

We are used to seeing the mountain as a totally natural environment, and forget that the woods, as we see them now, are also the result of human intervention, and that rocks and spontaneous vegetation have been a source of sustenance and a working environment for millennia.  

The mountain hid precious metals and mines, the woods were the kingdom of people who guarded special, seemingly magical knowledge, such as charcoal burners, blacksmiths who used hydraulic rams, and collectors of larch resin, from which turpentine was harvested. In short, chemistry before the letters, made of water and fire, metals and plants. 
It was knowledge that for many remained mysterious and applied empirically, and by which we can understand how work, primitive industry, was inextricably connected to the land. For example, it was believed that minerals were also to be considered fruits of the earth, with their own growth cycle. 

To discover these aspects of the mountain, you can visit a variety of places in the Ecomuseum of Val Meledrio, where you can still see different structures, such as the lime kiln (calchera), a furnace used to fire limestone in order to produce lime for construction; the mallet, one of the 28 once available in the area, and a factory dating back to the 16th century, where iron tools were made. 

And then again, the turpentine trail, in the footsteps of the resin collectors. 

The iron mines

Another activity not linked to agriculture, yet no less ancient, was centered in Val di Pejo, in Comasine, where magnetite was mined from the 15th century until the 1960s.  

It is interesting that the exchange of knowledge regarding the extraction and processing of this mineral led to migrations of Lombard workers to these lands, so much so that the local dialect remains indebted to this historical event; indeed, a Lombard dialect that is different from the Solandro dialect (which comes from Ladin dialects) is still spoken in Ossana and Val di Pejo. 

The mines cannot currently be visited, but Palazzo Migazzi, in Cogolo di Pejo, will soon be open to the public. It showcases the stories of the miners of this valley.  

The power of water

Val di Sole and the Rabbi and Pejo valleys are blessed with countless watercourses, streams and rushing torrents that were exploited not only for the irrigation of fields, but also for the development of ancient forms of industry.  

The power of water was leveraged to power forges, where the iron was processed. To learn more about forging, you can visit the Fucina Marinelli, whose water mills make it a very suggestive place. 

Water is fundamental for the production of electrical energy, which, in the Trentino valleys, was nothing short of a feat achieved in the first decades of the twentieth century. In Cogolo di Pejo you can visit the fully operational hydroelectric plant. Its precious architectural style has earned it the distinction of being “Italy’s most beautiful” hydroelectric plant. A visit to it fosters a better understanding of life of this Alpine valley. 

To learn more

The warmth of stone

Limestone provided lime for construction, but from the 16th century onwards the production of so-called ollas, or clay stove tiles, gave the kilns increased relevance.  
In these mountain valleys, being able to heat homes efficiently was a necessity. Houses were built in such a way as not to disperse heat, with extensive use of wood even to cover the walls of the stube, small windows and low ceilings and, of course, with the presence of a tiled stove. 

These large stoves were cladded in majolica tiles, and lined inside with ollas and refractory bricks, which retained heat for a long time, thus requiring less wood than traditional fireplaces. To see a house that features all these elements, you can visit the nineteenth-century Casa de la Béga, in Strombiano di Pejo.