On the banks of Lecco's metalworking. A walk along river Gerenzone with expometals.net
I like to believe that even expometals.net had its origins there, on the banks of the Gerenzone River. One thing is certain, though: without the waters that have nurtured Lecco's industry for centuries, expometals.net might have never come into existence. But let's take a step back.
On October 7, Confartigianato Imprese Lecco — a trade association dedicated to representing the interests of local craft and small businesses — organized a highly engaging trek along the Gerenzone River. We started from the bridge over the point where the stream turns into a river, and continued downstream. It wasn't my first time visiting this area, and I was already familiar with some of the factories here. However, this was the first time I had the chance to walk alongside the river, listening to the history that flows through its waters, narrated by the knowledgeable voices of local representatives.
For those who may not be acquainted with Lecco, Gerenzone is a river that winds its way through various neighborhoods of the town, located in northern Italy on the eastern shore of Lake Como. It extends from its wellspring in the Valsassina valley to the lake. Due to a combination of geographical and historical factors - which I'll elaborate on shortly - this valley was the ideal setting for the flourishing of the early metallurgical and mechanical workshops in the city. Without this river, Lecco would have never achieved its status as a renowned metalworking district in Italy; I would have never become a mechanical machine designer, and I would have never created expometals.net.
However, since this is a journey along the river, let's start from its spring.
The Gerenzone River originates at the foothills of southern Grigna mountain, at about 1,060 meters ASL. It gains strength as it meanders through the Calolden stream and is fed by other subterranean sources. At around 500 meters above sea level, it turns from a seasonal stream into a perennial river. The karst phenomenon in the Grigna area has had a substantial impact on the development of this river. Karst is an erosive process in which rainwater, containing carbon dioxide, chemically reacts with the limestone bedrock, creating a labyrinth of cavities carved into the rock. This process has endowed the Lecco region with caves and underground rivers, enriching the Gerenzone's water reserves. The Laorca caves in the upper part of the city, one of our first stops, are a visible manifestation of the karst system typical of this region.
At times, the term "Via del Ferro" (in English “Iron Route”) is used to refer to the Gerenzone valley. But why iron, and why here? Why did the wire industry find such fertile ground in this valley? Two concurrent factors offer the explanation we seek: the water power, which operated hydraulic hammers and forges, and the abundance of iron ores in the surrounding mountains. Even the Romans seem to have employed colonies of Insubrians in neighboring regions for mining. In the Middle Ages, significant iron ore deposits continued to be discovered in various areas nearby, especially around the village of Premana. These fortuitous circumstances facilitated the early stages of metalworking in Lecco. Over time, the production processes of iron wires and bars were refined and were used to create agricultural tools, metal nets, and a wide range of metal components for various applications. Workers grew increasingly skilled, and the valley became widely recognized, attracting labor even from distant regions.
The waters of the Gerenzone powered an entire system of artificial channels equipped with locks and gates that diverted water from the river to operate hydraulic wheels and turbines. In earlier times, water from these channels (called “fiumicelle”) powered the water wheels both for iron mills and for silk spinning machinery. Later on, as iron production took over, water became the main energy source for hammers and wire drawing systems. The water used as a driving force would subsequently be returned to the Gerenzone through other fiumicelle to ensure availability for the following activities along the river.
What did a forge look like? The core of the operation lay in the furnace or hearth and the hammer. The latter consisted of a large hammerhead connected to an external wheel driven by the water from the canal. The iron head of the hammer could weigh up to several hundred kilograms and was employed to work the metal. The forge was designed to allow the escape of fumes produced during heating.
As the iron reserves in the Valsassina valley were exhausted, scrap metal became the primary raw material at the end of the 18th century. It was imported from other regions to produce iron wire, nets, chains, screws, bolts, nails, and locks. These products became the primary export drivers of the region's economy for most of the 19th and 20th centuries.
A significant point of interest along the Gerenzone is the Falck rolling mill, named after the well-known entrepreneurial family with a long iron and steel industry history. This industrial complex is situated in the heart of the valley and traces its origins back to before 1760 when it operated as a forge with four waterwheels. In 1870, partners Redaelli, Falck, and Bolis acquired the existing forges and established a rolling mill, thereby providing raw materials to the metalworking industries in Lecco. In the end, the three family shareholders separated their businesses, and the Falck rolling mill was converted into a paper mill in 1906. The paper mill remained operational until 1994, when it was demolished, representing a significant loss to the city's heritage. The wire drawing mill, on the other hand, was taken over by Alberto Gianola, a trusted collaborator of the Falcks, and remains in operation with his family to this day as Trafilerie di Malavedo. Today, instead of the paper mill, there is a residential complex with iron architectural elements and water channels that evoke the industrial history of the site and the Iron Valley.
Continuing downstream along the Gerenzone, you come across the Paradone Dam, a remarkable hydraulic engineering structure. This dam consists of a manually operated lifting gate, splitting the watercourse into two parts. One portion flows through some town districts and is used to power water wheels along the way, ultimately pouring into the lake. The other part follows a distinct course and is used to provide hydraulic power to other mills downstream. The dam remains a prominent point of interest in the valley due to its well-preserved state. Numerous springs are found in the area surrounding the dam, harnessed to supply the city's aqueduct.
The journey proceeds to Via dei Tirabagia Park. "Tirabagia" is a local term for the first wire drawers and still lends its name to a street in Lecco. The rods were heated and manually struck with specialized tools to round them. They were then passed through the wire drawing bench, a robust steel plate with progressively decreasing holes, to obtain iron wire. This task was carried out by a worker known as a 'tirabagia,' who, during the Middle Ages, sat on a type of swing and pulled the wire using large pliers. It goes without saying that this was physically demanding work, and it's no surprise that having one or more missing fingers was often the distinctive mark of a ‘tirabagia’.
Along the "Via del Ferro," you'll encounter various remnants of historical metalworking companies. Around 1980, the Gerenzone Valley experienced a gradual decline due to the European metalworking industry crisis, compounded by the relocation of many businesses. Today, only a few of them remain compared to their past glory.
Many of these industrial buildings now sit abandoned, awaiting a new purpose. One notable, positive example is the old Oto Metallurgica Rusconi, now known as OTO LAB, which underwent urban regeneration and currently hosts workshops and community events.
For me, this was the final stop on the urban trek along the Gerenzone River: a journey through time, exploring the vestiges of the glorious past that elevated Lecco's industry to greatness. It's from these roots that my - albeit modest - career began. In the late 90s, I started as a wire drawing machine designer at a local company. In 2001, the idea of creating an internet portal focused on metal wire began to take shape. Over time, this idea expanded to encompass related industries and became expometals.net—the very platform you are visiting today! If it weren't for the Gerenzone, if the love for metal didn't flow through my veins like a river, I might have taken a different path. And for that reason, it seemed fitting to pay homage to it.
Davide Dell’Oro
expometals.net
