The former Savardo Hydroelectric Power Station(1) stands beside the Maestra Canal in Marano Vicentino and is an interesting example of an industrial archaeological monument.
The power station, built by the engineer Dino Savardo, was inaugurated in 1903 and, after changing ownership several times, became part of the ENEL - Ente Nazionale Energia Elettrica (National Electricity Board) in 1960. When it was no longer used for its original purpose, the complex passed to the Municipality of Marano Vicentino which has used it as conference hall, headquarters for various associations, municipal stores and private dwellings.

The power station covers a vast area and various parts of the plant can still be seen.
The water intake installation on the Canal filled a large covered basin, now in ruins, called the ‘tollgate’, and this is where the underground penstock started. The banks of the Canal near the flooding basin are raised to increase the height of the fall.
The machine room(2) was located below street level and included the collecting basin for the incoming water which fell from a height of 15 metres onto the turbine connected to the alternator on the floor below. Then the water passed down to the basement where it became lost in among the series of tanks, channels and maintenance corridors. The control room(3) was situated near the turbine room and the employees’ accommodation.
The collection cabin(4) stands on street level, and the electric cables coming from Vicenza, Pozzolago and Bassano del Grappa entered the top floor. The high voltage cables passed down to the lower hall(5) from where the current was transferred to the three rooms housing the transformers on the west side of the building. South of this there were another two shunting cabins(6) of different heights, having outlets to the north and the south with direct lines to Schio, Valdagno, Thiene and Vicenza; the three-storey taller one also had three apartments and a charming garden at the front.

The neo-Romanesque style of the entire complex gives it a monumental appearance, and the series of oblong windows in the collection cabin, used for the passage of the high-voltage cables, lends height and elegance to the main body(7) of the edifice which dominates the surrounding buildings with its grandeur.