GALLARATE There was a time, at the dawn of industrialization, when the Gallarate district excelled at a Lombard and national level in the production of silk cocoons thanks to his marked industriousness and entrepreneurial ability of its inhabitants. Mulberry plants were a characteristic element of the landscape and the breeding of silkworms it represented, for many families, an indispensable supplementary income. However, this glorious past is a phenomenon that is little studied and narrated: there is in fact a submerged cultural heritage that has a lot to tell about City of Gallarate and not only. For this reason the Gallaratese Society for Patri Studieswhich has been promoting the study and valorization of the territory since 1896, organized with the Mooroon Agricultural Society a morning of study on mulberry cultivation: Saturday 29 June give her 9.30am to 12.30pmat the museum in via Borgo Antico, there will be alternating guests of great importance with insights into historical, cultural, landscape and economic aspects.
The meeting
After the institutional greetings, the professor will speak Pietro Cafaroformer Director of the Department of Modern and Contemporary History and professor of Economic History at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, to delve into the economic aspects of sericulture in the first phase of industrialization of the Gallarate area.
Massimo Palazzi And Matteo Scaltritti of the Gallaratese Society for Patri Studies will present the popular sericulture manual written by Ercole Ferrario and will illustrate the landscape implications of mulberry trees and mulberry sericulture.
Silvia Cappellozzadirector of the CREA-AA Gelsibachiculture Laboratory of Padua (a national point of reference for the supply chain and research in the sector which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary), will give the city event a national and European flavor with the presentation of the activities of the Laboratory and of ARACNE, a project financed by the European Union which aims to inventory the heritage of sericulture in order to be able to understand and safeguard it.
Esther Praderio And Cesare Coppe will talk about the challenge of recovering sericulture starting from the experience of Società Agricola Mooroon, an agricultural company that started its activities in 2021 with the planting of around a thousand mulberry plants in Gallarate, with the intention of returning to produce 100% Made in Italy and certified organic silk in the city.
At the end of the morning it will be possible to see live silkworms and learn about their life cycle and carry out a silk reeling test with traditional tools. Entrance is free.
Silk production returns to Gallarate: 5 young people “in the field”. 1000 mulberry trees planted
