Progetto Erasmus Plus :The place where we live terza mobilità in Portogallo Presentazione su 2 momenti importanti della storia di Como

1. ERASMUS+
THE PLACE WHERE WE LIVE

2. Hi! This is the Italian team, we are…

3. Discovering the memory of my place

4. Alessandro Volta and his Invention The City of Silk
COMO

5. Can you answer this question?

6. Alessandro Volta
(1745-1827)
• Alessandro Volta was a Como born
physicist, who is credited as the
inventor of the electrical battery and
the discoverer of methane.
• His invention was called the
• “Voltaic Pile”
• The term “volt” was named after him
• He discovered that electric potential in
a capacitor is directly proportional to
an electric charge.

7. In 1927 an international
exhibition was organized to
celebrate the centenary of
the death of Alessandro
Volta.
It was divided into three
sections:
• Exposition of Hydroelectric
• Industries
• The International Exhibition of
Telephony and Telegraphy
• The National Exposition of
Silk.
The Voltian Exposition
Como – 1927
The location chosen for the Exposition was Villa Olmo and
the total area covered by it was 12,000 sqm

8. Villa Olmo
In 1924 it was acquired by the Municipality of Como, to host the International Exhibition, for
thecentenary of the death of Alessandro Volta. Since then it has been the magnificente
location for numerous conferences, performances and art exhibitions
Villa Olmo is an imposing neoclassical
building of Como, designed by the
architect Simone Cantoni.
The villa was named after an elm tree
planted in the middle of the ornate
gardens, which is no longer alive today..

9. Quirino Majorana, the president of the
Italian society of physics in 1927, held the
congress of Electrology, Electrotherapy,
Meteorology, History of Science.
The most significant conference was the
International Congress of Physicists
attended by twelve Nobel laureates, like
Niels Bohr, Guglielmo Marconi, Max
Planck, Pieter Zeeman and Ernest
Rutherford.
The Nobel in the Expo

10. The monuments in honour of A. Volta
On the occasion of the
Voltian Exposition, Como
also celebrated its most
important citizen building
two monuments dedicated
to Alessandro Volta :
•The Voltian Temple
•The Voltian Lighthouse

11. Voltian Temple
In 1927 the Voltian Temple was completed to
celebrate the 100th anniversary of the
scientist's death, but it was inaugurated only
in 1928.
It is a neoclassical building which was
designed by the architect Federico Frigerio.
It hosts a collection of scientific instruments
used by the physicist including his
early voltaic temple (batteries).

12. THE VOLTIAN BANKNOTE
The temple was featured on the back
of the 10,000 lire banknote, while
Volta's portrait was depicted on the
front of the same banknote.
Banknotes based on the Italian
Lira have since been replaced by
Euros.

13. The Voltian Lighthouse
Faro Voltiano (lighthouse) was built
in 1927. It is a project by the
engineer Gabriele Giussani.
The Volta Lighthouse was built in
honor of the World Congress of
telegrapher. It is located on the hill
of San Maurizio in Brunate,
overlooking the city.

14. In the exposition of the 1927
there was a pavillion about the
silk in Como, where the
mannequins made by the
sculptor Alexander Archipenko
were exhibited.

15. COMO THE CITY OF THE SILK
Its introduction
in the economy
of Como is
undoubtly the
event which has
changed the
history of our
place

16. Silk History of Como takes us
right back to the sixth century.
Silkworms were smuggled out
of China in bamboo canes and
brought to the eastern
Mediterranean by two Persian
merchants disguised as
priests. From there, breeding
of the silkworms spread to
Sicily and continued further
north.
The history…
THE SILK ROAD

17. The silk production
In the year 1510, Pietro Boldoni of Bellano was
the first to establish the silk industry in Como,
after his initial efforts, the industry in the region
boomed, quickly surpassing most of Europe’s
leading manufacturing centres.
The region of Como provided the ideal
environment to develop sericulture, with its
abundance of mulberry trees and crystal clear
waters.
In Como all families worked on the manifacture
of silk, breeding silkworms in order to obtain the
shiny thread.

18. However it was on the turn of the
18th century that Como became
Italy’s largest silk producer, with the
help of mechanical methods
replacing older ones.

19. Sericulture
Silk is an animal protein fiber produced by
certain insects to build their cocoons and
webs.
Silk is most commonly produced by
larvae, and thus largely limited to insects
with complete metamorphosis.

20. The cycle of the silkworms

21. After the unification of Italy in 1866, due to the rapid development of
the industry in the area, the entrepreneurs in Como, with the support
of the Comasco minister Paolo Carcano, founded a Technical
Institute meant to train young professionals in the craft of silk
manufacturing. From that point onwards, the industry kept on
expanding, especially after the Second World War.
Paolo Carcano

22. Today
.
Through continuous work and effort, Como built a
worldwide reputation for excellence.
Its reputation reached such a peak, that the region
became known as the Silk City.
In the 1990s, Como was the most important center for silk
manufacturing in the world, with all the important fashion
houses ordering silk from the region around Lake Como.
After that ,the silk industry has undergone a period of
decline because of the more competitive Chinese silk
factories-
However, in the past few years, new and exciting projects
have been trying to revive Como’s silk production.
Currently, in the region there are still around 800
companies operating in the silk and textile industry, with
roughly 20,000 employees producing 4,400 tons of silk per
year.

23. Thanks for your attention