LA “MACCHINA
BRUSÀ”

According to Marco Trisciuoglio, a professor at the Polytechnic University of Turin and a member of the International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage, it is “one of the most fascinating examples of industrial archeology in Italy and Europe”.

The Serra factory, or “macchina brüsà” for the residents of Pettinengo, was built in 1835 as an extension of the old mill which was already present in the land registry in 1798.

With the coming of the mechanization and the hydraulic press at the beginning of the 1800s, most wheat mills by

the rivers got turned into different mills to make and handle textiles, including processes such as spinning, knitting and dyeing.

Unfortunately, the factory got destroyed in 1898, probably by an accidental fire caused by the friction of transmission belts. It is now abandoned.