The lower stretch of the Maestra Canal flows through Marano Vicentino where it is given the name of ‘Roza de Maran(1)’ or ‘Roza dei Mulini’, (Mill Canal) which provides evidence of the traditional ancient corn grinding activity developed along the course of the artificial canal, thanks to the 13 corn mills which were established along its banksat different times; one of these, the Calderato Corn Mill, is still working, another, the Zambon Corn Mill, stopped working in 1995, and a third one, the Giovanni Cavedon Corn Mill, has been inactive since the eighties.

The oldest report of the Marano corn mills dates back to 1284 when the Maltraversi family, who were Vicenza Lords, kept some mill wheels in the Marano area for themselves at the time the Canal was sold to the Signoretto family from Marano Vicentino and the Verlati family from Villaverla.
According to the Galese report in 1596, in the early 1500s the Capra nobles owned five wheels, which became seven during the course of the century. During the following centuries other owners appear: in 1600 the Galdioli, Spagnol heirs, in the area of Santa Lucia and Santa Maria, in 1700 Count Porto, and subsequently the Barettoni and Panciera landowners from Schio, whose names were connected with the initial industrial activities in the area.
During the 1800s, the Capra establishments passed to the Savardo nobles, who also owned property in Breganze; in the early 1900s, a member of this family, the engineer Dino Savardo dismantled those located along the upper course of the Canal, so that he could bring the water to the Savardo Hydroelectric Power Station, which he had built.

Since the Middle Age, the corn mills set in the predominantly agricultural countryside of the rural Municipality of Marano Vicentino have been a source of income for the landowning nobility who owned a large part of the area.
The plant operation was entrusted to millers who were at the service of the Counts, and used to grind fodder and cereals for the counts and themselves.
Even the new entrepreneurial middle-classes of Schio realised they could benefit from these establishments and, to this end, continued to add more mills which were located in unexploited places along the Canal up to the thirties.
In a very short time, real corn grinding dynasties were formed: the Cavedon, the Calderato, the Ruari and the Zambon families who superseded the former ancient owners by renting the premises and machinery, replacing the wheels with turbines and continuing the business up to the present day.

Starting from Vanzi and following the Marano stretch of the Canal(2), numerous traces of ancient corn grinding activity can be seen, such as the well-preservedZambon, Cavedon and Calderato Corn Mills as well as the decayed remains near them; they are typical examples of corn mills constructed in the lowlands.

Zambon Corn Mill

The Zambon Corn Mill(3) is in Marano Vicentino, in Via Molette, on the right-hand side of the Canal. The real entrance is located under a portico with two arches of different heights.
The north and east façades qualify it as being a multi-storey industrial building, owing to its changed appearance following the extension work carried out during this century next to the new water plant located on the watercourse.
This has been duly documented since the 1600s as the ‘first corn mill’ in the Marano area, the northernmost one, initially having two and then three wheels, which remained in operation up until 1995.
In the second half of the 1800s it belonged to the Panciera family, and the present owners, who took over in 1936, replaced the old water wheels by two Francis turbines in 1938 and had the first cylinder rolling mill installed the following year, while the others date to around the fifties.

The machinery(4) located inside the building is used for the so-called ‘high grinding’, the present corn and wheat grinding process from which many products can be obtained: flour, bran, and fine bran from wheat; wheat germ, bran and pollard from maize.

Each floor of the building is divided in two parts, reserved for yellow and white flour. On the ground floor there are two cylinder rolling mills(5) for pre-breaking and breaking maize, and another four for subsequent breaking and re-grinding wheat . The vats where the cereals are taken from are located in the floor. The first floor contains a labyrinth of conveyors(6), the bran brushing machines and machines used to separate and sack the finished products. The third floor has the sifters(7) for riddling and breaking, a plansifter and a Marseillese sifter, the cleaning utensils(8) and wall bins to store the clean cereal which was let fall to the first floor for grinding.

When the corn mill was in operation, it was rather noisy and clean although the air was impregnated with white-yellowish floury powder suspended and deposited just about everywhere.
It would have been amazing to watch the cereal grains and flour of different consistency frantically going up and down along the intricate systems of wooden elevators with bucket belts, on the various mill floors and through the rapidly spinning grooved cylinders in the rooms smelling of flour and wood from the machinery and flooring.

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