Cereal grinding in Schio and its surrounding area has been duly documented ever since the 13th century.
The agricultural economy of the Middle Ages stimulated the construction of corn mills operated by means of wheels turned by the water of the Leogra, its tributaries and its close network of canals which were excavated just about everywhere.
The number of corn mills along the Maestra Canal of Schio continued to increase, and consequently from the eight mill locations cited by a fourteenth-century chronicler we find 27 wheels for grinding corn in the first half of the eighteenth century.

The position of the town at the mouth of the Leogra Valley encouraged grain harvesting and grinding, however grinding was also carried out in the area of the surrounding mountains and plains, where the first ancient settlements were established alongside water courses, like the Gogna torrent on the Tretto Plateau, the upper reaches of the Leogra in Valli del Pasubio and in the nearby districts, and along the lower stretches of the Maestra Canal in Marano Vicentino.

The corn mills in Schio slowly began to disappear, their number was reduced to 5 in the first half of nineteenth century due to urban textile specialisation, and nowadays none of these are operating.
The external structures(1) of the five-storey Grendene Corn Mill(2) along with the imposing locks(3) in Via Paraiso, evidence of an attempt to transform industrial production, are to be mentioned, as well as those of the eighteenth-century De Lorenzi Corn Mill(4), later Grendene, in Vicolo Pilastro, subsequently turned into a pasta factory.

After the Venetian domination, corn grinding continued to be carried out longer in the surrounding areas already mentioned, until it disappeared during the last few decades; at the moment there are only two rolling mills operating outside the town: the Calderato Corn Mill in Marano Vicentino and the Facci Corn Mill in the area dividing the Municipalities of Schio and Santorso. The original water wheels have been replaced by Francis turbines, integrated with electric power in case of any possible water shortage.

However, numerous traces of the intense corn grinding activity of the past remain visible throughout the Schio area along routes which can partly be followed by car or on foot along relaxing walks.
Travelling from the centre of Schio towards Valli del Pasubio, the remains of the Danzo Corn Mill, with its external wheel, can be found in Contrà Ertele, at the turning for Staro. Further on, in Contrà Gobbi, and also worth a visit is the Filippi Corn Mill, which keeps its old millstones and sifters together with the most recent cylinder rolling plant. This technology is still found in the Rossato Corn Mill at Gisbenti.

Going up along the secondary roads from Poleo, a neighbourhood in the north-west of Schio, towards Santacaterina, there are important remains to be seen of the mills which served the population of the districts spread throughout the Gogna hydrographic basin, which is known today as the Mill Route.

The stretch of the Medieval canal known as the ‘Roza dei Mulini’ derives its name from the numerous remains of corn mills along the lower course of the Maestra Canal, in the Municipality of Marano Vicentino. The decayed remains of the Barettoni-Cavedon Corn Mill can be seen in the open countryside stretching from Vanzi; the ancient Zambon Corn Mill with its cylinder machinery in Via Molette was in operation until 1996. In Via Santa Maria, there is a very well-kept Cavedon Corn Mill which was supplied with electricity at the beginning of the 20th century, and nearby on the opposite side, there is another Cavedon mill of more recent construction.

by Dina Mantoan