The Pila of Sartirana

Sartirana hosts the imposing Visconti Castle, dating back to the XIV century,  which has kept most of its original structure, representative of its era, intact through the centuries. A castle with a square plan, with a moat and with four angular towers to which a peculiar cylindrical tower created by Ridolfo Fioravanti was added in 1463. 
By mid-XVI century, the castle went to the Gattinara family, who own it until the Thirties of the past century. As is often the case, previously lords of the territory, in time the Gattinara family turned into landowners and farmers. This meant that buildings intended as farming warehouses were added to the castle and on this territory - where rice farming had become a fundamental practice - what we can still admire nowadays is the Pila, an ancient warehouse meant for stocking and processing rice, built during the XVII century.

The Pila is a one of a kind complex thanks to its excellent state of preservation and to the most recent restoration works which have enhanced its ancient features. The name comes from the husking process (“pilatura”), which was done inside the building, in order to turn raw rice into white rice through a process of hulling and whitening. Through the centuries the original architectural structure hasn’t changed substantially: we can still admire the expansive internal spaces roofed by wooden beams, the terracotta flooring from Lombardia, the signs on the walls indicating the different quantities of rice stocked inside the warehouse are still visible. The building has an irregular C-shaped layout which opens towards the Castle, creating a colonnaded courtyard set against the ancient Visconti structure. 

The structure hosts the original equipment for rice processing inside, while the wide rooms are the ideal background for a permanent exhibition dedicated to the famous Sixties and Seventies fashion designer, Ken Scott. The Ken Scott foundation has donated to the Pila part of the artist’s enormous archive, in particular the collection of silk foulards with unique and unforgettable colors and designs, as well as the FOOD MOOD collection which pays homage to the passion for food. 

The tour ends with the exhibition dedicated to rural life, where farming tools and other objects used during the last century. A very interesting attraction is the extremely rare watermill with a horizontal wheel, activated by the water coming from the Ancient Canal of Sartirana, which produced the necessary energy for the process of rice husking.