History, art and culture
The origins of Crespi d’Adda are unclear with some attributing its roots to a Celtic people and others to Roman. The first written references date back to 948/949 BC and the first record of San Gervasio was made between 1100 and 1200. The area was of prime strategic importance and played a significant role during mediaeval times. During the conquest of Piedmont and Lombardy in 1158, Federico Barbarossa (Frederick Redbeard) occupied Trezzo castle and hid his treasure there with a garrison to guard it. With the coming of “free communes”, the castle was liberated following a popular uprising.
Towards the end of the 1300s, the continuous fighting between the Guelfis and Ghibellines caused many deaths in this area. In the early 1400s, the castle was besieged by the Milanese who partially destroyed the Bernabò Bridge. When peace prevailed in 1411, the territory was assigned to Milan.
When Filippo Maria Visconti died, Francesco Sforza took over the reins of power and commissioned work to begin on the Martesana canal that became navigable from 1727 onwards.
The Franco-Hispanic war and the Great Plague brought very hard times to the area during the 1600 and 1700s.
In 1734 the Savoys occupied all the Milanese and confining territories and in 1796 Napoleon created the Cisalpine (Italian) Republic and besieged the castle.
More recent history relates to WWII and partisan resistance.
The working village of Crespi d’Adda
Working villages were first founded in Italy in the mid 19th century based on experience from previous European models.
They were urban conglomerates designed to house all the workers, from labourers to managers, of a single industry. Enlightened industrialists saw them as a way to protect their employees from the deplorable conditions to which the growing working classes were normally subjected. Improved productivity would come hand-in-hand. The Crespi family sought to set up an ideal community that would meet the needs of both workers and industry.
The village was founded in 1878 by Cristoforo Benigno Crespi, a textile dealer from Busto Arsizio alongside his cotton mill.
Located on the left bank of the River Adda, Crespi quickly transformed the village into a modern small town with a residential area that included such marvels as a hospital, a sports centre, public baths, street lighting and a theatre. The low, small houses were initially intended for extended families in the end were provided to single family units to avoid any symptoms of social conflict. To complement this inspired concept, Crespi had three symbolic monuments built to underline his “systematic” village ideal. They were a church attributed to Bramante, a “castle” or owner’s villa-castle in wonderful neogothic style and a mausoleum dedicated to the founders.
The lay out of the worker’s village was based on geometrical principles. The main road dissected the village and on one side was the residential section with the factory on the other. The 3,200 employees and the River Adda brought life and productivity to the area.
CRESPI D’ADDA – AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL JEWEL OF INDUSTRY
The working village that was completed towards the end of the ‘20s has changed little over time and is one of the most important examples of its type in Italy and in the world.
This is why it is considered an archaeological jewel of industry for a fairly recent branch of study that examines what remains of world industrial production from the past.
Perched on the banks of the slow-moving Adda where the waters flow off to Milan from the Martesana canal, Crespi d’Adda finds itself in a position of exquisite beauty.
UNESCO INSCRIPTION
The working village of Crespi d’Adda
Inscription N° 730 1995 C (iv) (v)
During the XIX session of the World Heritage Committee meeting held in Berlin in 1995 on September 4 – 9, the committee decided to inscribe Crespi d’Adda (an area in Capriate San Gervasio in the Province of Bergamo) on the World Heritage List.
Crespi d’Adda in Capriate San Gervasio in Lombardy is an outstanding example of the 19th and early 20th century ‘company towns’ built in Europe and North America by enlightened industrialists to meet the workers’ needs.
The site is still remarkably intact and is partly used for industrial purposes, although changing economic and social conditions now threaten its survival.
The committee also congratulated the Italian authorities for the coherence of its conservation programme that had preserved the architectural and social integrity of this site.
This recognition also underlined the value and significance of the fact that the working village of Crespi d’Adda, that is the only one of its kind, sees it as its duty to bequeath the historical, cultural and architectural values it has kept intact to future generations.
