BERGAMO'S MODEL VILLAGE CRESPI d'ADDA
Bergamo, which shares the title of Italian Capital of Culture 2023 with Brescia, is highlighting tours this spring to one of its most prestigious museum complexes, the former industrial village of Crespi d'Adda, a listed UNESCO Heritage Site.
Crespi d'Adda was built by cotton manufacturer Cristoforo Benigno Crespi in 1876 to house his workers. A model village of 500 houses, all with individual gardens, and complete with communal facilities, such as a school, sports fields, a church, a theatre, recreational clubs for the workers and other conveniences, it has remained intact for 146 years, even after the final closure of the factory in 2003. Among its vaunts, Crespi d'Adda was the first Italian community to have electric lighting and a telephone service.
The village is still inhabited by some 300 descendants of the original workforce.
The Crespi village is now a living museum offering regular guided tours that include the nearby 1909 hydro-electric plant on the River Adda, considered one of the most outstanding examples of its era, the imposing Dalmine bunker from WWII, a short walking distance from the village, and the MUVA Nature Museum of the Adda Valley, situated in the aristocratic residence of Villa Gina, and inaugurated in 2020.
Info: Tel. +39.02.90939988 www.crespidadda.it
