La Fornace di Massarosa

BUT WHAT IS THIS HALF-SUNKEN MECHANISM?

​

This rusty mechanism sinking into the waters of Manipura Lake tells an almost legendary story of inestimable historical and cultural value for the entire Massarosa area. It is a true industrial relic. A story that begins with the construction of the nearby, now-abandoned brick kiln, known as Il Fornacione, whose chimney still stands alone against the Massarosa hills.

​

It all began between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the kiln was built in Massarosa to exploit the excellent quality of "blue clay" found in the soil between the marshes and the hills, directly at the foot of the hills, where the earth "pulls" cracks.

​

Thus began a thriving brick production industry, perhaps the first industrial activity in our area. Thus, while most families in the area earned their living by working at the kiln, the surrounding land began to become a "Swiss cheese": an expanse of quarries, or pits several meters deep, from which workers extracted clay for bricks. This laborious work was made possible by mechanical excavators lowered into the quarries to collect the clay, which was then brought up on trolleys on tracks pulled by belts and internal combustion engines.

And so the purpose of this now rusty mechanism, now a symbol of industrial archaeology, is revealed.

Furthermore, on days when the water level drops, looking south of the Manipura Pond, you can see a pump that also served to extract the sludge.

​

Yes, because our Manipura Pond was also a clay quarry for the Fornace... but there was no water. It is said (and here history merges with legend) that after a day's work, the excavator arm and carts were left at the bottom of the quarry ready for the next day's work. One night, the quarry filled with water, submerging everything.

This is why, even today, the semi-sunken mechanisms and tracks are visible on the northwest shore of the Manipura Lake, known to generations of Massarosa residents as one of the "drafts of Massarosa."