The stone of

In the past, the ancient region known as In - that the village had in and the subria , which corresponded with the pre - presence of stone slabs (in the local dialect, sent Provinces of , Varese and the pioda ) there. Another version says that, pro - Canton of Ticino in Switzerland, was charac - bably, in Moltrasio began the quarrying. terized by the presence of numerous stone di Moltrasio Assessorato al Turismo quarries, among others, the stone of Mol - The activity in the stone quarries began du - trasio’s ones. It is a flinty limestone dark ring the Roman settlement in the lake area, grey coloring, tending to clear in sunny which was facilitated due to the construc - areas. The stratigraphy of the stone of Mol - tion of bridges and routes. The activity con - trasio - and therefore the quarries - extends tinued in the Middle Ages and during the from Como, following the versant, Mount Renaissance, until the early 20 th century. Bisbino side, passing through Moltrasio and The most important stone quarries were lo - , until and Val d’Intelvi; cated in Moltrasio, Carate, Urio, Faggeto - while, on the east versant, continues until still in operation -, Pognana and Careno. . Despite is widespread in the terri - Today, because of the lack of manpower tory, it seems that the stone took its name and the high uncompetitive costs, the de - from Moltrasio because of the reputation mand is very low.

01 The stone of Moltrasio

In Moltrasio, there were 13 stone quarries nes for building their house and abando - in operation (from the south, bordering ned afterwards. , to the north, bordering Urio): The extraction of stone was one of the eco - Comune di Moltrasio Assessorato al Turismo Pizzo’s stone quarry, Roncaccio’s stone nomic activities that most provided liveli - quarry (in the local dialect, Runcasc ), Taru - hood to the local families, even if the nin’s stone quarry (or Stone quarry at the process involved great physical effort. two roads), Cepp Cativ’s stone quarry (or The stone of Moltrasio is well known be - Taroni’s stone quarry) and Stucchi/Della cause of the work of the Maestri Comacini Rocca’s stone quarry; above this one, conti - (Masters of Como) and it was available for nuing vertically, were located the well- them thanks to the great competence of known Niasc’s stone quarry (meaning nest humbles diggers and stonecutters. On a in the local dialect) and the nearby Umbre - daily basis, they would climb up to the lin’s stone quarry (meaning umbrella in the quarries to extract the stone. In addition, local dialect), the lasts to be abandoned in they worked to secure and to keep the ter - Moltrasio, in the first half of the 20th cen - ritory neat. This can be seen, for example, tury. Moreover, there were Crotti’s stone on the tall dry-stone walls that are located quarry, Vignola’s stone quarry, Pizzallo’s in the Niasc area. They were built with the stone quarry, Marianna’s stone quarry, Dos - arising waste produced during the extrac - sello’s stone quarry and Linera’s stone tion of the rocks, therefore, their construc - quarry. Additionally, there were small fami - tion and the extraction were done liar stone quarries used for extracting sto - concomitantly. n i a l a c e n c r s n c b a a i o o o i l l r m l l R N

e a l a U a ’ s z e l l l s l M z d

i e

e o

a P a d l D D v

l l

v i / l i t e e a a e v h a d d C

d c a C

a a c C i • a v v p a t u l v t t a a p • o a o S C C e

r C n C C a

• • g

l i v i • n e i e a V

d n c C d i

s u d a r a

a • v v c a a a a T a v r n

C l C e a u e C n • R i • d

l L • o

e a i z v d d z

i a a a C P

v v i a • a d

C C a • v • a C •

02 The stone of Moltrasio

The extraction process had several steps. The and processing the stone at the level in the first one was the dig verification with a deep stone quarry area; sensor. This step allowed diggers to deter - • the second one, the riskiest, consisted in Comune di Moltrasio Assessorato al Turismo mine the quantity of the material, the width collapsing the wall of rock, hoping that the of the rock and the possibility of cutting it in material remained intact; horizontal sections. Among the characteri - • the third one, was to partly process the stics of the rock course, were observed also block of stone in place, without bring it the cracks (lithoclase) that ran parallel to the down at the level. mountain and facilitated the extraction to the In the most important stone quarries in surface, where they were larger. Moltrasio, Niasc’s stone quarry and Umbre - If the characteristics were accurate, it was lin’s stone quarry, was practiced the manual possible to continue with the second step: digging, with the technique called “pun - to remove the soil and the damaged top tata” (pointed). In-line holes were drilled on layer of bedrock, before beginning the ex - the stratum that had to be divided, an iron tractions. wedge (in the local dialect, puncitt ) with There were different extraction techniques two side section bars was insert in each to cut the stone in blocks or slabs. hole and, hitting the wedges, got off the The main techniques were three: rock stratum that would be sectioned on • the first one consisted in cutting the block the basis of the usage.

03 The stone of Moltrasio

The holes were manually obtained by the in order to create a regular circular section. use of a profiled octagonal-section mould, In the hole which was forming was poured with a diameter of 3 centimeters, and a some water. Comune di Moltrasio Assessorato al Turismo sledgehammer to hit. The part of the mould The “supporter”, when there was so much that had to scratch the rock was shaped like accumulated dust in the hole that the hit - a rounded chisel. During this step were ting was not working, stopped the “beaters” needed 3 or 4 people; one, seated, called by lifting his index finger, holding the “supporter”, kept the mould in a vertical po - mould in position. He used, therefore, to sition, the others, called “beaters”, hit with clean the hole, a utensil called “brush” (in a regular alternated rhythm the top of the the local dialect, spazeta ) composed of a mould. After each hit, the person keeping thin iron bar and with a sort of spoon on the mould had to lift and to rotate it slightly the top.

04 The stone of Moltrasio

Then the hole was filled by the “man of the This step called “ calconatura ” (from calcun ) fire” (in the local dialect, fughin , that means was really important to ensure that was not literally “little fire”) with explosive material: released the explosive power through the Comune di Moltrasio Assessorato al Turismo together with the black powder, was inserted hole (in the local dialect it was told “to make a fuse with a knot at the end and then black canun ”), nullifying the whole work. Brick dust powder again. Every layer was pressed with was inserted to fill in the last part of the hole, a utensil, called in the local dialect calcun , forming a cap (in the local dialect, busciun ). made of iron and brass – the brass prevented Before and after the explosion, the popula - the formation of sparks. tion was alerted with the sound of a trumpet.

05 The stone of Moltrasio

Consequently, the material was given to the internal and external pavings, roof coverings, picapreda (meaning stonecutters in the local wallcoverings, curbs, slabs for balconies and dialect). They knew how to identify the de - tables, windowsills, stairs or others. Comune di Moltrasio Assessorato al Turismo fects of the stone – such as the peli, white On the territory there are numerous buil - minute cracks of various length – and chose dings constructed using the stone of Moltra - the blocks to process, usually right in the sio. Besides St. Agatha’s church and St. stone quarry area. The choice was made on Martin’s church in Moltrasio, an example is the basis of the type of manufacture they Como Cathedral. would do: dry-stone walls, walls with mortar,

06 The stone of Moltrasio

Lastly, the stones were transported to the which connected Niasc’s stone quarry to main lake on heavy wooden sledges, called the disembarkation area called “small carei (meaning bogies in the local dialect), bank”. Comune di Moltrasio Assessorato al Turismo down the steep stony streets specially con - Therefore, the stone was transported by structed with this purpose. lake and loaded on a “comballo” (in the local Some of these ones are still used as foot - dialect, cumball ), which is a boat intended paths and they connect the upper part of for the carriage of heavy goods, with a large Moltrasio with the lower one. An example, rectangular sail to move exploiting the the street so-called “ dei carei ” (of bogies) Breva and Tivano winds.

07