Venetian Sawmill in Ortisè

Description

Standing on the orographic left of Val di Sole, at an altitude of 1,487 m, just a ten-minute drive from the town of Mezzana, are the hamlets of Ortisè and Menas. Despite the passage of time, these villages retain all the characteristics of traditional Val di Sole communities. Between Ortisè and Menas stands the recently renovated Venetian sawmill, located on the northern banks of the Rio Valletta; the latter flows out of Lake Ortisè on the slopes of the Ortles mountain massif. The former Ortisé sawmill, together with the nearby mill, shows how the power of running water was once exploited via simple yet effective water wheel technology. Used by Alpine communities for centuries, water mills are the subject of a vast collection of literature.

Thanks to meticulous renovation, the building has been completely restored to its former glory and made fully functional. Today's sawmill is the result of painstaking reconstruction of the stonework, wooden structures and machinery. The building has four levels:

• the upper floor housing the actual saw, where logs are fed in and finished products exit
• two floors where you can observe the mechanical parts, perfect replicas of the originals
• the lower floor containing the mill's 'engine'; thanks to the power of water, channelled from the nearby stream, the turbine generates drive and turns the gearing needed to run the mill

Opening period

In summer, from June to September. Free admission.
Verify the samill's opening times at the Mezzana info office.