Museo: Museo del Ferro di San Bartolomeo - MUSIL

The Iron Museum "Lodovico Giordani" of San Bartolomeo

Lodovico Giordani (1904-1984), an engineer specialized in the production and processing of special steels, directed the Falck plants in Sesto S. Giovanni and Bolzano before founding his own company in Brescia in 1950, focused on cold-rolled steel. Starting from the 1970s, Giordani supported the collection of agricultural and craft tools with the vision of a future "museum of arts and crafts." Despite the collection being organized by the University of Brescia, it could not find an adequate exhibition space. From the mid-1980s, the Civiltà Bresciana Foundation promoted the recovery of the Caccagni Forge and the adjoining grinding wheel workshop, in the San Bartolomeo neighborhood. This area is historically rich in workshops, located at the entrance of the Val Trompia and crossed by the Bova and Grande canals, which powered dozens of water wheels. Thus, it is located in the ancient heart of industrial Brescia. Inaugurated in 1990 and dedicated to Lodovico Giordani, the museum acquired the collection gathered by the University in 2004. As of January 1, 2007, the Iron Museum "Lodovico Giordani" became a part of MUSIL - Museum of Industry and Labor of Brescia.

The Millstones

Millstones are large circular stones used for sharpening tools or, when smoothed by use, also employed as building material. In exceptional cases, like ours, they can become a beautiful floor, which was discovered accidentally during the restoration works of the building. The video, shot at the Taboni workshop in Bovegno, Val Trompia, shows a millstone in action: water turns the waterwheel and thus the pulleys, but water is also the secret to making the stones abrasive. Of course, it also requires someone who knows how to operate it: and it's not easy at all! The village we are in is called "Le Mole" due to the presence of various workshops of this kind. The building you are in was used for grinding blades and knives produced in the Val Trompia since the 12th-13th century. For a long time, the grinding workshop and the hammer were separate; they were unified only at the beginning of the 20th century when Francesco Tecchioli became the sole owner, thus controlling the entire production cycle of charcoal irons.

Iron Age - Second Phase

Mining activities in the Upper Trompia Valley date back at least to the 6th century AD. The Statutes of Bovegno and Pezzaze (mid-14th century) are the first documents to precisely regulate the rights of mining enterprises and landowners. The displayed photos show work scenes in the S. Aloisio Mine in Collio, one of the most important concessions in the Valley, revitalized in the 1930s and active until 1985. Siderite, an iron carbonate, is the main iron mineral extracted in the mines of the Upper Trompia Valley. The sample displayed here comes from the Marzoli Mine in Pezzaze: touching is recommended! The model, on the other hand, represents the blast furnace of the Franchi-Gregorini plant in Lovere, built in 1875: in the 19th century, mining also became industrialized as the ore was smelted inside these enormous vertical towers. The videos narrate two chapters of the history of ironworking: ore extraction and functioning blast furnaces on the island of Elba in the 1930s, and the current production cycle of Ori Martin, a steel mill located a few hundred meters from the museum.

The Territory

The third room of the museum is dedicated to the territory of San Bartolomeo, with a special focus on its waters: at the end of the 13th century, two canals, the Grande and the Bova (which flows in front of the museum), were constructed, initiating the industrial development of Brescia. The model displays the water wheels active in this part of the city during the 19th century: there were more than 30 water wheels here, powering hammers, mills, tanneries, and more. However, similar landscapes could be found in nearby countryside and within the city walls. The aerial photograph depicts the territory of San Bartolomeo today - now much more concrete-covered. The video next to the window shows what happens when it pours and the river and canal levels rise: someone needs to think about it! Cesare Dioni, director of the Oglio Mella Reclamation Consortium, explains everything. The second video takes us to the discovery of the canal network, now largely buried, that crosses the center of Brescia, guided by historian Marcello Zane and guide Andrea Busi from the Brescia Underground association.

4. Hydraulic Wheels

The use of the hydraulic wheel dates back to the 1st century BC, but its discovery took time to spread due to the availability of slaves and animals. Watermills only became widespread in Europe and the Arab world after 1000 AD. Hydraulic wheels also played an important role in 19th-century factories, complementing the power of steam and electricity. Eventually, they evolved into modern turbines. The two models displayed show a trip hammer (similar to the one you can see shortly!) and a grain mill powered by hydraulic wheels: to see them in motion, press the button! The backlit photographs display numerous hydraulic wheels located in the Brescia region: they were an omnipresent feature of rural and urban landscapes in any civilized area, almost until the advent of electricity (generally until the early 20th century). The forge visible beyond the glass was, for centuries, the workplace for generations of blacksmiths: the last was Mansueto Caccagni, who worked until 1984.

5. The Forge

And here we are finally at the heart of the forge: the furnace and the hammer. The forge is a quadrangular room, partially underground to dampen the vibrations produced by the hammer, which is the large hammer that would fall on the incandescent iron piece to forge it into the desired shape. In the masonry furnace, lined with refractory bricks, the fire necessary to heat the iron for working would burn. The combustion floor was topped by a large hood for the smoke to escape. This hammer has a birth date: 1751. In that year, a forge was founded for the forging and finishing of small to medium-sized iron artifacts. As we can observe, the contact between the shaft and the end of the hammer handle occurs through a large iron ring fixed along the shaft, into which cams are inserted at equal distances. By rhythmically striking the end of the hammer, the cams would cause its heavy steel head to fall onto the anvil and onto the incandescent iron workpiece to be forged. The worked pieces were immersed in the water of the basin that we find to the right of the shaft. The profiles of the products were sharpened and made sharp by passing them over the sandstone grindstone, operated by the pulley that slid around the shaft.

6. Outside the Museum

Here we are outside, directly engaging with the water and canal systems. First and foremost, how did the wheels work? Once the sluice gates upstream of the canal were opened, the water would fall into small inclined channels, which would bring it right against the paddles of the water wheel to set it in motion. As it flowed away from the wheel, the water would return to the canal bed, so it could power the workshops located downstream of the subsequent water drops. The shaft passes through the wall of the building through an opening, transmitting the vertical rotary motion to the internal mechanisms of the forge, where we now return. The outside of the museum is an open-air technical workshop: the water wheels, of course, but also the canals to make them turn, the gates to regulate the water flow, and especially the hydro-aeolian trumpets: the three drop mouths visible from the bridge channeled the water into a cylindrical stone chamber. Falling vertically in the chamber, the water would break up, channeling air into a pipe known as the wind pipe, which would blow oxygen onto the forge.