Torre Salt Storehouse
Overlooking the Salt Pan Canal, the salt storehouses are one of the finest examples of industrial archaeology in the Cervia area.
The Torre storehouse, adjacent to the San Michele Tower, was built in 1691 by the Romagna Treasurer Michelangelo Maffei, to store produce from the salt pan; in 1712, on the opposite side of the Canal, the Darsena storehouse was built, for the storage of salt after it had been washed and dried in the Torre storehouse, to be weighed and divided into bags suitable for sale.
The salt pan, divided into small lots, was harvested individually and in an artisan way by salt workers, who made up almost the whole of the Cervia population.
The need to store salt encouraged the Papal State administration to construct two large buildings along the Canal Harbour in Cervia for this specific purpose: the Torre storehouse, 80 m long and 26 m wide, rectangular and divided into six bays, which could contain up to 130,000 quintals of salt.
Canal, is the Darsena dock, where up to 100,000 quintals of salt could be stored. The salt harvested from the spring to mid-September was loaded onto traditional flat-based boats called “burchielle” then, through the Canal Harbour, transported to the storehouse where it could be stored. In order to simplify storage work, the two buildings were connected by an iron bridge.
In 1959, following the transformation of the salt pan from small lots, where work was done by hand, into large areas harvested with more technological methods, but also due to the reduced demand for salt, the storehouses lost their original function and were slowly abandoned.
Inside the Torre storehouse, MUSA, the Salt Museum, stores an important part of Cervia’s history. A result of the work done by the Civiltà Salinara Cultural Association, the museum is aimed at safeguarding, preserving and enhancing object, images and documents bearing witness to the salt civilisation. Inside it there are paths where the adventure of water and salt is explored, as well as human labour. Among the exhibits, there are some particularly interesting items on display, such as the burchiella, the iron craft used for salt transport. The museum also features old wooden equipment used for processing, images of salt workers and everything which is related to salt production and to the ancient salt pans.
Ideal place for meetings and exhibitions.
Where
Torre Storehouse: Cervia - Via Nazario Sauro, 24
Darsena Storehouse: Cervia - Viale Oriani, 12
Official Tourist Information Site of Cervia