ERASMUS+

THE PLACE WHERE WE LIVE

Hi! This is the Italian team, we are…

Discovering the memory of my place

Since we had to talk about some great memories of our city, we

have decided to tell you something about two important historical events of Como, which

influenced our place.

Alessandro Volta and his Invention The City of Silk

COMO

Who was Alessandro

Volta?Can you answer this question?

Alessandro Volta (1745-1827)• Alessandro Volta was a Como born

physicist, who is credited as the inventor of the electrical battery and the discoverer of methane.

• His invention was called the• “Voltaic Pile”• The term “volt” was named after him• He discovered that electric potential in

a capacitor is directly proportional to an electric charge.

In 1927 an international exhibition was organized to celebrate the centenary of the death of Alessandro Volta. It was divided into three sections:

• Exposition of Hydroelectric • Industries• The International Exhibition of

Telephony and Telegraphy• The National Exposition of

Silk.

The Voltian ExpositionComo – 1927

The location chosen for the Exposition was Villa Olmo andthe total area covered by it was 12,000 sqm

Villa Olmo

In 1924 it was acquired by the Municipality of Como, to host the International Exhibition, for thecentenary of the death of Alessandro Volta. Since then it has been the magnificente location for numerous conferences, performances and art exhibitions

Villa Olmo is an imposing neoclassical building of Como, designed by the architect Simone Cantoni. The villa was named after an elm tree planted in the middle of the ornate gardens, which is no longer alive today..

Quirino Majorana, the president of the Italian society of physics in 1927, held the congress of Electrology, Electrotherapy, Meteorology, History of Science. The most significant conference was the International Congress of Physicists attended by twelve Nobel laureates, like Niels Bohr, Guglielmo Marconi, Max Planck, Pieter Zeeman and Ernest Rutherford.

The Nobel in the Expo

The monuments in honour of A. Volta

On the occasion of the Voltian Exposition, Como also celebrated its most important citizen building two monuments dedicated to Alessandro Volta :

•The Voltian Temple

•The Voltian Lighthouse

Voltian TempleIn 1927 the Voltian Temple was completed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the scientist's death, but it was inaugurated only in 1928.

It is a neoclassical building which was designed by the architect Federico Frigerio. It hosts a collection of scientific instruments used by the physicist including his early voltaic temple (batteries).

THE VOLTIAN BANKNOTE

The temple was featured on the back of the 10,000 lire banknote, while Volta's portrait was depicted on the front of the same banknote. Banknotes based on the Italian Lira have since been replaced by Euros.

The Voltian LighthouseFaro Voltiano (lighthouse) was built in 1927. It is a project by the engineer Gabriele Giussani.The Volta Lighthouse was built in honor of the World Congress of telegrapher. It is located on the hill of San Maurizio in Brunate, overlooking the city.

In the exposition of the 1927 there was a pavillion about the silk in Como, where the mannequins made by the sculptor Alexander Archipenko were exhibited.

COMO THE CITY OF THE SILK

Its introduction in the economy of Como is undoubtly the event which has changed the history of our place

Silk History of Como takes us right back to the sixth century. Silkworms were smuggled out of China in bamboo canes and brought to the eastern Mediterranean by two Persian merchants disguised as priests. From there, breeding of the silkworms spread to Sicily and continued further north.

The history…

THE SILK ROAD

The silk production In the year 1510, Pietro Boldoni of Bellano was the first to establish the silk industry in Como, after his initial efforts, the industry in the region boomed, quickly surpassing most of Europe’s leading manufacturing centres.The region of Como provided the ideal environment to develop sericulture, with its abundance of mulberry trees and crystal clear waters.In Como all families worked on the manifacture of silk, breeding silkworms in order to obtain the shiny thread.

However it was on the turn of the 18th century that Como became Italy’s largest silk producer, with the help of mechanical methods replacing older ones.

SericultureSilk is an animal protein fiber produced by certain insects to build their cocoons and webs.Silk is most commonly produced by larvae, and thus largely limited to insects with complete metamorphosis.

The cycle of the silkworms

After the unification of Italy in 1866, due to the rapid development of the industry in the area, the entrepreneurs in Como, with the support of the Comasco minister Paolo Carcano, founded a Technical Institute meant to train young professionals in the craft of silk manufacturing. From that point onwards, the industry kept on expanding, especially after the Second World War.

Paolo Carcano

Today.

Through continuous work and effort, Como built a worldwide reputation for excellence. Its reputation reached such a peak, that the region became known as the Silk City. In the 1990s, Como was the most important center for silk manufacturing in the world, with all the important fashion houses ordering silk from the region around Lake Como. After that ,the silk industry has undergone a period of decline because of the more competitive Chinese silk factories-However, in the past few years, new and exciting projects have been trying to revive Como’s silk production. Currently, in the region there are still around 800 companies operating in the silk and textile industry, with roughly 20,000 employees producing 4,400 tons of silk per year.

Thanks for your attention