Museum of Industrial Heritage

The Romanin-Jacur silk mill, which worked from 1872 to 1952, was a plant for silk manufacturing which widely contributed  to the economic and social development of Salzano and its neighbouring villages in the Venetian hinterland. After the plant was shut down, it was converted into a documentation center on silk and spinning, endowed with an expositive section and an archival section that gathers materials and documentation about selected subjects. At the same time the mill underwent a transformation from a place of silk spinning to a place of artistic production. The festival called FILI, in co-operation with Echidna cultural association, has reached its eighth edition this year, restoring the mill’s spirit of the place, namely documenting the community’s self-consciousness.

In 1960, at the height of the economic boom, the firm called Italemmezeta was founded. In 1967 it changed its name to Italjet. During its whole productive history, the firm faithfully mirrored the qualities of its founder, Leopoldo Tartarini, a celebrated rider in the 50s, famous for his bold courage which led him to win the classic races of the time, Milano-Taranto and MotoGiro. For 40 years Italjet produced a great variety of models for both Italian and foreign motorcycle lovers, ranging over all typologies and all engine sizes, always pursuing innovation in style, materials and construction features.

The player piano is an automatic musical instrument that can be used also by non-musicians. The music played by the instrument is generated by the arrangement and length of a series of holes in a piece of cardboard. The same cardboard supplies the performer with written instructions about the dynamics of the piece. These instruments reached their utmost popularity between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. One of the most important manufacturers of these instruments was Giobanni Racca, based in Bologna. The article reconstructs the founder’s life and the firm’s history and production.

The article summarizes the historical research carried out by architect Bruni and engineer Fulvi within the project related to the clearance and safety restoration of the former  kiln in Ghiare di Berceto. This kiln produced lime from 1912 to 1932 and is still an important evidence of the early 20th century industrialisation in the Taro valley. Although the building has been used for a variety of activities since the end of the 2nd World War, it is luckily still possible to work out from the construction how the kiln worked.