Ecomuseo Villaggio Leumann

The Leumann Village was realised between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century as a residential area connected to the production structure of the cotton mill of the same name - one of the most important factories in Piedmont - with the aim of concentrating the workforce available in the area. In a delimited area, production, housing, social and welfare institutions, and recreational facilities were integrated to constitute a functional and self-sufficient mechanism. As an expression of 19th-century entrepreneurial philanthropism, the Village represented a sign of great attention to the needs of families, constituted the realisation of privileged living conditions for the era in which it was built, and remains an organism of extraordinary historical, cultural and architectural interest. Built on the initiative of the Swiss entrepreneur Napoleon Leumann, it represents a true architectural 'jewel' within the panorama of the numerous workers' villages that sprung up in Europe, especially in the second half of the 19th century. The village was partly designed by the engineer Pietro Fenoglio, one of the greatest exponents of the Art Nouveau style in Turin, while the factory is an example of industrial architecture with a severe 19th-century layout. The residential buildings, as well as the entrance to the historic factory have a clear Art Nouveau inspiration. In the village around the employee houses, the primary services were set up: the Primary School, the Gymnasium (still in use), the Nursery School (now the seat of the Ecomuseum), the Food Shop, built for the employees in which they made purchases using a specially created currency and now the site of "Il Filo racconta" workshops. The Church of St. Elisabeth, built by Napoleon Leumann for his employees despite his Protestant faith and still in use today. The Theatre and Sports Clubs (now converted into housing), the Public Baths (now home to the Senior Citizens' Club), the Medical Outpatient Clinic, next to the Opificio, now a commercial activity. The Convitto per le operaie (boarding school for factory workers) was built to house the girls aged 13 to 20 who worked in the factory and who, being resident in the province and also in other regions, did not have the possibility of returning home at the end of their shifts; the Convitto was run by Catholic nuns and inside it was the scuola della buona massaia (good housewife school) in which cooking, sewing, mending and home economics courses were held. It currently houses the Civic Library. The Stazionetta Leumann, located in front of the Opificio's entrance, was the stop of a narrow-gauge train that departed from Turin and arrived in Rivoli. At the end of the 19th century, Napoleon Leumann had an aqueduct built at his own expense to supply running water to the houses in the Village and to which all the houses in the community were gradually connected. The Leumann Village, a manufacturing and residential complex, is a remarkable example of industrial archaeology. Together with Crespi di Capriate d'Adda near Bergamo and Rossi di Schio in the province of Vicenza, the Borgata Leumann in Italy is one of the most significant examples that has maintained its integrity as a 19th-century workers' village, not only from an urban and architectural point of view, but also from a historical and social perspective.