Author: Michele Longo

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The production of timber, destined to be used in building and carpentry was concentrated in the many sawmills on the Rio Stava. The distribution of sawmills in the Alpine region came about in the period of maximum expansion, (and the consequent request for timber) of the Republic of Venice. The so-called “Venetian sawmill” was equipped with a single saw blade which functioned by means of hydraulic energy and was used to slice the tree trunks, to obtain boards or beams of varying thickness.[/vc_column_text][vc_masonry_media_grid grid_id="vc_gid:1620911278625-08d45a77-1496-6" include="6162,6169,6159,6172,6165,6150,6147,6156,6153,6144"][vc_separator color="black"][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Some of the buildings along the banks of the Rio Stava were used mainly during the second half of the 1800s as paper factories. By using the power of water from the torrent for their machinery, they used plant fibres to produce coarse paper of various sizes, generally for wrapping food. The period when there was a market for this product was quite limited and the buildings which were originally mills, sawmills or forges, were soon transformed for other purposes.[/vc_column_text][vc_masonry_media_grid grid_id="vc_gid:1620657707927-554814e6-35e1-1" include="6102,6096,6105,6111,6108,6114"][vc_separator color="black"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It is impossible to establish with precision the exact era in which the first water mills of Rio Stava were built. However, their appearance dates back many centuries, as in 1378 already the Rio Stava was described as the “Torrent of Mills”, in a reference discovered in a parchment document preserved at Tesero Council Archives. The millstones moved by waterpower, transformed the cereals, harvested in the surrounding areas – wheat, barley, maize, rye and buckwheat – into various kinds of flour. As a result of economic and social growth, the watermills were gradually abandoned early in the twentieth century and

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The hydroelectric power station of Tesero was built in 1908 in a building which had previously been used as a forge. The Plant provided electricity for the whole village with exception of the Giovanelli hospital and a few other buildings, which were served by another small power station. Soon after, they were connected to the electricity network of Tesero and the houses of Masi di Cavalese. In February 1965, the Electricity Network of Tesero was taken over by ENEL Company and so was subsequently closed. The council of Tesero has recently created a new plant for the production of hydroelectric

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The presence of a watercourse with a good flow throughout the seasons favoured human settlements and the rise of work places along its banks. Through special water ducts, the water was directed from the Rio Stava and channelled to a wheel directly connected to the main shaft. Through links such as belts, gears and pulleys, the movement was transmitted from the main mill shaft to diverse machines in the workshops. The principal was the same for the joiners’ workshops, sawmills, forges and flourmills. [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color="black"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_masonry_media_grid grid_id="vc_gid:1619623965927-135bfab0-f7a3-7" include="5939,5933,5930,5936,5950"][vc_separator color="black"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] The first historical document that mentions the Stava Valley is dated 6th September 1269. The text describes the geographical position of the Pampeago Alp, just a fraction north of Tesero. " The Alp " is situated in the Fiemme territory at the top of the village of Tesero, in a place named Stava Valley.  It borders on the one side with the Regola of Nova (Ponente), on the other side with the Regola of Predazzo, or to be precise, the Mount Vardabio and on the outer limits of the Fiemme territory named Cornon. The lower middle part of the

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The first idea for this exhibition began in the autumn of 1985, in the secondary school of Tesero, which had lost many of its pupils due to the disaster caused by the failure of the tailings dams of the Prestavèl mine. The huge mass of mud and silt caused the death of 268 people and dramatically changed the entire valley, destroying or severely damaging homes, farmsteads, hotels, factories and everything that had been made over centuries of life and work. For this reason, the teachers decided to begin research together with their students, in order to create a reconstruction of