Ex Filanda - Casa della Pace

In 1851 a group of nobles and rich bourgeois from Bologna, including the Minister Marco Minghetti and the Count Zucchini, decided to establish a large modern factory for the processing of hemp in Casalecchio di Reno, in the locality of Canonica, incorporating existing buildings that were once paper factories, oil refineries, etc. 

The hemp mill was at the time one of the first in Italy for size, machinery employed and financial availability. The original structure was gradually expanded, especially after 1906, when the National Linen and Hemp Factory bought the mill from the former owners. From the beginning of the production to 1910, the mill worked exclusively on hydraulic energy, obtained by exploiting the water fall from the canal. In 1910 the functioning of the factory became independent from the hydraulic power with the installation of a steam engine. The development of the activity suffered a standstill during the First World War to then return with renewed energy after 1918.

The hemp mill was partly recovered as the head office of the Casa della Pace (House of Peace) La Filanda.