VISIT TO THE PARK OF MONZA

On friday the 1º of May 2004, at 14,15, our class, 3ºC of the lycèe Enriques, went to the organisation “Italia Nostra” in Monza, in the park of the same city, for a visit led by prof. Pompeo Casati, in order to discover the most typical places related to our UNESCO project: IDs and mills.

USE OF CANALS

Then we went to see some canals which used to have three functions.

• Taking the water from the river to the mills or the irrigations canals.
• Taking the water from the mills to the river.
• Taking the water from the spring to the river.

These elaborated structures were used to maintain the level of the river, as, according to the law, it was necessary to give back to the river the water taken away. Before starting any kind of canalisation work it was necessary to find a source the water of which could feed the river; consequently it was possible to use an amount of water as consistent as the one removed. The water could also be used for household work; people that lived next to the canals could use this water during the shortage of running water.

APPLICATION OF THE MILL – “ASCIUTTI MILL”

The strength of the water against the shovel o the mill is converted by a sequence of wheels in order to be used for many applications. These are the most important.

• Olive pressing.
• Milling.
• Weaving.
• Activation of hammers.

The “Asciutti” mill we visited was used for milling mais and producing flour. The structure included two rooms with three millstones in each of them. The strength of the water allowed the rotation of big cylindrical wheels, under which there was the mais, which was turned to flour. Th stones could be moved by pins linked to the wheels, which transformed the energy of the water into cynetic energy. Prof. Casati  also talked about the caves where the rock used to be taken from to build the millstones.

Unluckily the weather was not favourable and so we had to end our visit earlier, soon after seeing “Asciutti” mills.

THE LAMBRO                                      

The Lambro rises in a place called Menaresta, 950 metres high.

In the first part, as far as Erba, it has a watercourse like a torrent. Then it flows into Pusiano Lake. After that, it runs down to Carate and it goes through Monza. Finally it crosses the east of Milan and it flows into the Po.

The Lambro is 130 Kilometres long and it drains a basin of 1950 km2.