The Old Mill and Rice Farm San Giovanni of Fontanetto Po is a unique testimony, where you rediscover the different stages of the processing of rice through machines driven only by the force of the water through a hydraulic turbine (1890) supplied by the Roggia Room.
Its productive activity was completed at the end of the Eighties, not being able to withstand the competition of industrial installations of avant-garde. Its construction was simultaneous with that of the Roggia Chamber, from which it is supplied, which was born from the channel of the broken in the territory of Saluggia and was excavated at the behest of Guglielmo marquis of Monferrato starting from 1465. At that time the mill was said by Po for the proximity to the great river. Rebuilt in 1617 following the destruction suffered by fontanettese territory during the wars between the French and Spanish and the Marquis of Monferrato, was called mill again.
Like many other mills of plain rice even the Mill S. John with the passing of the centuries lost its function is linked to the milling of cereals and we linked ever more closely to the workmanship of the rice. In the first years of the twentieth century mill and riseria were the property of the noble family of Tournon. The two rooms, one of the mill and the gang, were already connected by a walkway and the motive energy was secured to riseria no more from a wheel, but from the turbine that still today feeds the plant. By the end of the nineteenth century the old mill was torn down and went into full production the new riseria. The building contains all of the machines for the various stages of processing of the paddy rice.
Opening: all days on reservation.
Educational activities for children.
Laboratory activities for children/adults.
Paths for visitors with disabilities.
Spaces for events/Meeting.
Parking in the vicinity of the structure.
Guided tours with need to book in advance.
iluoghidelcuore@fondoambiente.it