The dates
Sentences without a label are documented facts; the others are marked "probable" or "uncertain".
The essential dates of the portal, from the copper founders of the Bronze Age, about three thousand years ago, to the openings of the Castellaro forge in the summer of 2026. Each row has its source, with the page. A date is the one the source maintains: for the oldest centuries it is often a hypothesis. The dates on which the sources do not agree are gathered at the end.
Before the documents
| When | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 11th-10th century BC | On the Uvera crag, at Cuorgnè, hearths, copper slag and stone moulds for bracelets and pins probable | Cima 2025a, pp. 27-28 |
| same age, the Final Bronze Age | On the Belmonte hill, at Valperga, a crucible with copper slag and a mould for axes probable | Cima 2025a, pp. 28-29 |
| Bronze Age | Pottery from Boire di Pont, now in the Cuorgnè museum | Archeocarta, scheda online |
| from the Final Bronze Age to the early Iron Age | Engraved human feet and cup marks at Bose and San Pancrazio, above Sparone; at San Pancrazio a basin for crushing the ore probable | Cima 2025a, pp. 30-32 |
| late Iron Age | At the Allietta, at 1728 m, haematite is crushed and washed in pits cut into the rock | Cima 2024, pp. 14, 108 |
| late Empire | A dump from a pottery kiln at the Ronchi of Torre Canavese | Archeocarta, scheda online |
| 6th-7th century | A copper basin from the castrum of Belmonte; with the Romans the traces of copper seem to disappear uncertain | Cima 2025a, pp. 32-33 |
| around the year one thousand | The Curtis Canava is still mentioned in an imperial diploma; Cuorgnè and the settlement of the castle of Valperga seem to arise from its end | Museo Archeologico del Canavese 2016, p. 7 |
Sources: those given row by row in the table.
The Middle Ages
| When | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 23 February 1003 | Work begins on the abbey of Fruttuaria, according to the verses of a lost chronicle | Bulst 1973, p. 98 |
| 28 January 1005 | Arduin gives the abbey its first privilege | Bulst 1973, p. 99 |
| about 1030 | According to a tradition a flood of the Orco destroys Canava and its “edifizi metallieri”, its metal works uncertain | Troisi 1997, p. 12 |
| 1212 | The mill of the Valperga below the Tellario, at Pont: the oldest water wheel recorded in the Canavese | Cima 2025a, p. 41 |
| 1251 | First mention of Salassa, with its mills | Museo Archeologico del Canavese 2016, p. 13 |
| 1298 | The toll tariffs of Cuorgnè put raw metal at the top of the list; they name iron and steel, not copper | Cima 2025b, p. 147; Cima 2025a, p. 36 |
| 1333-1336 | The castle of Malgrà is built; the Cuorgnè museum says “in the first quarter of the 14th century” uncertain | Carta 2023, p. 99; Museo Archeologico del Canavese 2016, p. 17 |
| 1346 | The statutes of Pont and the Valleys list the villages of the valleys and speak of washing gold in the sands | Cima 2025a, pp. 35, 169 |
| the sixties of the 14th century | Pietro Azario writes that Cuorgnè “shines with the palaces and towers of burghers” | Cima 2025a, p. 39 |
| August 1386 | Otto of Grandson arrives at Rivarolo and begins the Savoy conquest of the upper Canavese | Museo Archeologico del Canavese 2016, p. 17 |
| 1386-1391 | The Tuchinaggio, the Tuchini revolt; for Cima Cuorgnè is “subdued by arms in December 1390”, the arbitration award is of 1391 | Museo Archeologico del Canavese 2016, p. 3; Cima 2025a, p. 189 |
| 1429 | Copper appears for the first time in the duties of Cuorgnè | Cima 2025a, p. 37 |
| 1447-1450 | The valleys rise up, take the castle of the Ferranda at Pont and besiege Cuorgnè | Cima 2025b, p. 25 |
| 1457 | The statutes of Pont forbid putting more iron than copper into new pots | Cima 2025b, pp. 145-146 |
| second half of the 15th century | The shaft furnace of La Fray, at Ceresole, is built | Cima 2025b, p. 144; Cima 2024, pp. 151-152 |
| 25 May 1470 | The footbridge “sub fuxina nova” near Campore: the first documented water-powered forge along the Orco | Cima 2025b, p. 40 |
| 1487 | Oglianico obtains the right to draw a mill race from the Orco for a mill | Cima 2025b, p. 43 |
| 1499 | The Castellamonte land register names two kilns | Cima 2025b, p. 163 |
Sources: those given row by row in the table.
The 16th and 17th centuries
| When | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1538, 1543, 1546 | Great floods in the valleys; arches of the Cuorgnè bridge collapse | Cima 2025a, p. 169 |
| 13-27 April 1545 | Marruchi visits the valleys: fields covered with gravel, mills and forges at Sparone | Troisi 1997, p. 6; Cima 2025b, p. 96 |
| 1551 | The Pont land register lists two forges and a nail works along the “rugia fusine” | Cima 2025b, p. 95 |
| 1556-1559 | The Canale di Caluso is built; for Porro and Romanoni in 1558-59 uncertain | FAI, scheda online; Porro, Romanoni 2001, p. 1 |
| 1568 | Consegnamenti, declarations of holdings: two forges and a “fuxineta” at Sparone, a “martinetum” at Ceresole | Cima 2025a, p. 42 |
| December 1618 | The magnin Giovanni Berrardi of Ribordone is in the Pavia area with his 16-year-old son | Paviolo, p. 83 |
| 1634 | Turin puts a duty on the “pignate di Castellamonte”, the Castellamonte pots | Cima 2025b, p. 163 |
| the forties of the 17th century | The “fussina di Pietro Ferraris” is mentioned, later to belong to Glaudo Calvi | Cima 2025a, p. 42 |
| 1646-47 | Vercellis counts three forges at Sparone, each with its big wheel | Cima 2025a, p. 43 |
| mid-17th century | The “cannecchio” furnace, of the Brescia tradition, arrives in the Canavese | Cima 2024, p. 62 |
| 1652 | Giovanni Domenico Signorelli arrives at Cuorgnè; Casalis said 1560 | Cima 2025a, p. 107; Cima 1981, p. 109 |
| 8 July 1654 | The flood carries away two piers of the Cuorgnè bridge and fills the mill canal with gravel | Troisi 1997, p. 23 |
| 1675 | Glaudo Calvi has his name carved on the Castellaro forge | Cima 2025a, p. 91 |
Sources: those given row by row in the table.
The 18th century
| When | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1710 | Signorelli dies, after 58 years of activity | Cima 2025a, p. 107 |
| April 1716 | The valuation of the Signorelli forges for the division among the sons | Cima 2025a, p. 113 |
| 1720 | The first charcoal blast furnace of the Canavese, at Meugliano | Cima 1987, p. 50 |
| August 1733 - May 1734 | No rain: the Orco runs dry and “even the mills stopped” | Cima 2025b, p. 171 |
| 1736 | The Agliè silk mill is built on the Canale di Caluso | Porro, Romanoni 2001, p. 2 |
| 1750 | The salt registers: at Pont 140 families have a magnin or a paiolaro, a cauldron maker | Cima 2025a, p. 149 |
| 1752 | The intendancy's survey counts the blast furnaces and forges of the province | Cima 2025b, p. 228 |
| 13 October 1755 | The “most furious” flood carries away the weir of the mills of the counts of Valperga | Troisi 1997, p. 25 |
| 1756 | The Orco shifts towards Priacco and Castellamonte and the mill races run dry | Troisi 1997, p. 26 |
| 1760-1794 | The Canale di Caluso is enlarged along today's course | FAI, scheda online |
| 1784 | The Castellamonte land register records the “fornaci da pentole”, the pot kilns | Cima 2025b, p. 241 |
| 1785 | Galleani Napione finds the mine works at Sparone ruined by time | Cima 2025a, p. 49 |
| 1786 | Nicolis de Robilant describes the copper mine “du Saut ou de Sparon” | Cima 2025a, pp. 49-50 |
| end of the 18th century | Pietro Reasso makes the first “Franklin” fireplace at Castellamonte | Giorda 1992, p. 4 |
| 27-28 July 1797 | Hunger riots at Cuorgnè: attack on the Signorelli house, eight men shot | Cima 2025a, pp. 121-122 |
Sources: those given row by row in the table.
The 19th century
| When | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1808-1809 | A battery of three iron tilt hammers at Bisdonio di Pont | Cima 2025b, p. 235 |
| 1811 | The French government has the forges surveyed; the flood carries away the embankments of the Podio works at Salto | Cima 2025a, p. 21; Troisi 1997, p. 27 |
| 1814 | Enrico Pagliero founds the Spineto factory, the oldest still working in 1992 | Giorda 1992, p. 4 |
| after 1815 | The Manifattura d'Annecy opens a second mill at Pont; Cima gives different dates uncertain | Cima 2025b, pp. 225-226 |
| 1815 | The “Piano tipografico” counts 116 iron works | Cima 2025b, p. 229 |
| towards 1820 | Giuseppe Bertola grinds clay with a wheel on the Canale di Caluso | Giorda 1992, p. 5 |
| 1822 | The survey on copper counts 10 foundries | Cima 2025b, p. 232 |
| 1830 | Giacomo Buscaglione opens his factory at Castellamonte | Giorda 1992, p. 6 |
| 1845 or 1846 | The flood ruins the Podio works at the Pedaggio uncertain | Troisi 1997, p. 28; Cima 2025a, p. 46 |
| October 1846 | The Orco sweeps away the Cuorgnè bridge; the first stone of today's bridge is laid on 8 July 1850 | Troisi 1997, p. 29 |
| from 1861 | Giuseppe Giovando collects the words of the jargon at Ronco for Nigra | Nigra 1874, p. 60 |
| 31 December 1871 | The census counts 7582 inhabitants in the Val Soana municipalities, while the men are far away | Nigra 1874, p. 1 |
| 6 July 1872 | The Società anonima Manifattura di Cuorgnè is founded in Genoa | Abà e altri 1995, p. 39 |
| February 1873 | Work begins on the Manifattura's canal | Abà e altri 1995, p. 27 |
| around 1873 | The Signorelli works at Campore close | Cima 2025a, p. 46 |
| 8 September 1875 | The Manifattura buys the Campore forges and water rights from the widow Signorelli | Abà e altri 1995, p. 22 |
| 1880-81 | The Tavoletto mill, known as the Campore mill, is built | Abà e altri 1995, p. 336 |
| 1882 | The first Hoffman continuous kiln, at Filia | Giorda 1992, p. 8 |
| 20 December 1884 | The test run of the steam tramway between Rivarolo and Cuorgnè | Abà e altri 1995, p. 115 |
| 1885 | A turbine of the Manifattura produces electricity; apprentices aged 11 to 15 work at the Buscaglione factory | Abà e altri 1995, p. 341; Giorda 1992, p. 7 |
| 27 June 1897 | Public electric lighting is switched on at Cuorgnè | Abà e altri 1995, p. 128 |
Sources: those given row by row in the table.
From 1900 to the war
| When | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1900-1901 | The copper beaters of Alpette enter the Turin car body works | Paviolo, p. 92 |
| 1903 | The Cuorgnè Cotton Mill employs a little under a thousand workers | Abà e altri 1995, p. 129 |
| 1 July 1906 | The new Cuorgnè railway opens to the public | Abà e altri 1995, p. 118 |
| 28 May 1908 | The Società fra Cottimisti Ramai di Alpette, Fourmière, Avene, Pont Canavese, a society of pieceworking coppersmiths, is founded | Paviolo, p. 176 |
| 1919 | The Sparone power station, the first separate from the mills | Abà e altri 1995, p. 341 |
| 1921 and 1925 | Royal decrees give Turin the water of the Orco for four plants | Regione Piemonte 2025, pp. 1-2 |
| 1922 | The Scuola d'Arte for ceramics is founded at Castellamonte, according to the head of the high school | comunicato della Mostra 2017, p. 4 |
| 1924 | The Campore Basso power station, on the old canal of the Signorelli forge | Abà e altri 1995, p. 341 |
| 1925 | The Ceresole reservoir is completed | Troisi 1997, p. 33 |
| 1940 | The Tavoletto mill stops working | Abà e altri 1995, p. 339 |
Sources: those given row by row in the table.
From the post-war years to today
| When | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1950-1952 | The Castellaro forge closes: in 1950 for Bussi, at the beginning of the Fifties or in 1952 for the Park uncertain | Bussi 2026, p. 53; Parco Gran Paradiso 2024, p. 2 |
| 1952 | The dam of the Lago Serrù is completed | AEM, p. 18 |
| 1953 | The test of the Rosone-Bardonetto plant | Regione Piemonte 2025, p. 2 |
| 1956 | Rosone and Bertodasco are listed among the settlements to be moved because of the landslide | Troisi 1997, p. 34 |
| 1961 | The posters of the Ceramics Exhibition start from here; at Cuorgnè the manufacturing industries have 2,765 workers | comunicato della Mostra 2017, p. 3; ISTAT 1961, p. 78 |
| 1 January 1967 | With nationalisation three power stations of the Manifattura pass to Enel | Abà e altri 1995, p. 347 |
| 1971 | At Cuorgnè the manufacturing industries have 2,103 workers, 1,257 in the engineering units | ISTAT 1971, p. 103 |
| 1981 | The Giovando forge at Sparone is still working, run by father and son | Cima 2025a, p. 23 |
| 1991 | The Cuorgnè Cotton Mill closes probable | ERIH, scheda online |
| September 1993 | A flood strikes the upper Canavese again | Troisi 1997, p. 5 |
| 1996 | The Park takes over the management of the Castellaro forge for 50 years | Parco Gran Paradiso 2024, p. 2 |
| 2003 | A ceramist buys the Fornace Pagliero and starts producing again with the original moulds probable | Abbonamento Musei, scheda online |
| 2004 | The Museo Archeologico del Canavese opens in the former Manifattura | Museo Archeologico del Canavese 2016, p. 1 |
| 2013 | The Region identifies in the western Canavese the system of hot forging (closed-die) and car parts | Regione Piemonte 2013, p. 6 |
| 18 June 2022 | The Castellaro forge reopens after the new roof | Bussi 2026, p. 61 |
| 6 April 2025 | The Municipality of Canischio inaugurates the restored Canavet forge probable | «La Voce» 2025 |
| 2026 | The 65th Ceramics Exhibition, in 16 venues probable; the Castellaro forge opens on set days until 13 September | Mentelocale 2026; Parco Gran Paradiso 2026, pagine online |
Sources: those given row by row in the table.
The disputed dates
The sources do not agree on these dates; the page “Who thinks otherwise” tells about them at length.
- Canava: the flood of about 1030 is a tradition, without documents of the time uncertain.
- Signorelli at Cuorgnè: 1560 for Casalis, 1652 for Bertolotti and for the deed of division read by Cima.
- The flood of the Podio works: 1845 for Troisi, October 1845 or “1845/6” in the book on the Manifattura, 1846 for Cima uncertain.
- The closure of the Castellaro forge: 1950 or 1952 uncertain.
- The Cuorgnè Cotton Mill: built in 1872-1874 according to the ERIH page, “inaugurated in 1882” according to the Cuorgnè museum uncertain.
- The Fornace Pagliero: founded in 1814 for Giorda, born “at the end of the eighteenth century” according to the press release of the 2017 Exhibition uncertain.
- The ceramics school: 1922 for the head of the high school, “end of the 19th century” for an article of 2026 probable.
- The castle of Malgrà: 1333-1336 or “first quarter of the 14th century” uncertain.
- The Canale di Caluso: 1556-1559 for the FAI, 1558-59 for Porro and Romanoni uncertain.
- The Valle and Campore Alto power stations: 1928 or 1930 the first, 1948 or 1949 the second uncertain.
- The statutes of Pont on metal: of 1347 or of 1346, according to two books by Cima.
Sources: Troisi 1997, pp. 12, 28-29; Cima 1981, p. 109; Abà et al. 1995, pp. 20, 27, 123, 341, 344; Cima 2025a, p. 46; Bussi 2026, p. 53; Parco Gran Paradiso 2024, p. 2; ERIH, online page; Museo Archeologico del Canavese 2016, pp. 3, 17; Giorda 1992, p. 4; press release of the Exhibition 2017, pp. 4, 6; newsistruzione 2026; Carta 2023, p. 99; FAI, online page; Porro, Romanoni 2001, p. 1; Cima 2025b, p. 145; Cima 2024, p. 55
Sources for this page
- M. Cima, Archeologia del rame. Il caso del Canavese. Estrazione, metallurgia e sistemi produttivi, Turin, Nautilus - Museo Archeologico del Canavese, 2025 (second edition, online only, of Mastri ramai in terra canavesana, 1986; from Academia.edu); cited as Cima 2025a.
- M. Cima, Il Canavese tra Rinascimento e Rivoluzione industriale, Turin, 2025 (online only, from Academia.edu); cited as Cima 2025b.
- M. Cima, Archeologia del ferro. Sistemi materiali e processi dalle origini alla Rivoluzione industriale, Turin, 2024 (revised edition, online only, of the 1991 book; from Academia.edu).
- M. Cima, «L'industrie dans le Canavais (Piémont) au milieu du XVIIIe siècle», Le Monde alpin et rhodanien 3-4/1987, pp. 41-65 (scan, from Academia.edu).
- M. Cima, Archeologia e storia dell'industria di una valle, Florence, All'insegna del Giglio, 1981 (COR95 cites it as 1983: to be confirmed).
- C. Troisi, Esame di alcuni dati storici relativi ad eventi alluvionali e fenomeni di instabilità naturale nelle valli dei torrenti Orco e Soana, Alto Canavese, Provincia di Torino, Regione Piemonte, Settore Prevenzione del Rischio Geologico, Quaderno n. 7, January 1997.
- Abà, Bertotti, Ronchetto, Simoletto, Savio, La Manifattura di Cuorgnè. Storia e archeologia di una grande industria, Cuorgnè, Corsac, «Orco Anthropologica» 8, 1995.
- G. Giorda, «Note di storia della ceramica di Castellamonte. L'Ottocento», in Città di Castellamonte, Mostra della ceramica '92, 1992 (article without page numbers: the page of the scan is cited).
- Paviolo, I magnin delle valli Orco e Soana (editions 1991, 2000, 2006; edition of the copy to be confirmed).
- N. Bulst, Ricerche sulle riforme monastiche di Guglielmo da Volpiano (962-1031), Italian translation of Untersuchungen zu den Klosterreformen Wilhelms von Dijon, Bonn, Röhrscheid, 1973; Italian translation by the Associazione Terra di Guglielmo, 2014.
- C. Nigra, Fonetica del dialetto di Val-Soana (Canavese), «Archivio glottologico italiano» III, 1874-1878, with the appendix on the jargon.
- M. Bussi, Costruire nel costruito. Progetto per il recupero e restauro della Borgata Castellaro, master's thesis, Politecnico di Torino, supervisor A. De Rossi, 2026.
- E. Porro, L. Romanoni, Il filatoio da seta di Agliè in un percorso archeologico industriale lungo il canale Caluso, thesis, Politecnico di Torino, supervisor L. Re, 2001 (summary).
- E. Carta, Malgrà, Prospettive culturali per la valorizzazione del Castello, thesis, Politecnico di Torino, 2023.
- Museo Archeologico del Canavese, Visita al territorio afferente al Museo Archeologico del Canavese, Polo museale di Cuorgnè, 2016.
- S. Vigo, Cuorgnè (TO): Museo Archeologico del Canavese, Archeocarta (Gruppo Archeologico Torinese).
- ISTAT, 4° censimento generale dell'industria e del commercio, 16 October 1961, vol. II, dati provinciali, fasc. 1, Torino.
- ISTAT, 5° censimento generale dell'industria e del commercio, 25 October 1971, vol. II, dati per provincia e comune, fasc. 1, Torino.
- Regione Piemonte, Bollettino Ufficiale n. 52/2025, decision on the «Rosone-Bardonetto» concession.
- Regione Piemonte, DGR 23 December 2013 n. 49-6967, Convenzione per la semplificazione amministrativa delle imprese del Canavese, BUR n. 5, 30/1/2014 (pages of the PDF).
- Azienda Elettrica Municipale di Torino, historical publication on the Valle dell'Orco (after 1952), volume 546 digitised by MuseoTorino, p. 18 of the digital volume (no printed number).
- FAI, I Luoghi del Cuore, page Canale di Caluso.
- Città di Castellamonte, Mostra della Ceramica 2017, press release.
- Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso, press release Escursioni, laboratori e attività nella natura: è iniziata un'estate intensa per la Fucina da Rame di Ronco Canavese, 7/6/2024.
- Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso, pages Eco-museum copper forge and Aperture estive della Fucina da Rame di Ronco Canavese, pngp.it, consulted on 19-20/10/2026.
- European Route of Industrial Heritage, page Cuorgnatese Cotton Factory (CESMA).
- Abbonamento Musei, page Centro Ceramico Fornace Pagliero (data from the museum), consulted on 20/10/2026.
- newsistruzione.it, news item of 2/9/2026 on the Liceo Faccio at the Ceramics Exhibition. (popular source)
- Mentelocale, Mostra Internazionale della Ceramica di Castellamonte 2026: un racconto in 16 sedi, 2026. (popular source)
- «La Voce», Il Canavese riscopre le sue radici: inaugurata l'antica fucina del ferro al Punt Canavet, 1/4/2025. (popular source)