The abundance of water is the origin of a vocation that has been rooted in the Borlezza Valley for centuries.
This natural element, a source of strength and wealth, has allowed numerous craft activities to flourish over time: sawmills, mills, a paper mill, hydraulic pounders, and even numerous mills.
In Cerete, in the heart of the valley, a place was identified where eight of them stood.
According to village elders, however, there must have been many more along the streams running through the village: neighboring municipalities also had mills of their own in Cerete.
Two of these have arrived intact to the present day and are in operation: these are the bark pounding milland the Giudici mill, run since October 2018 by Flavio Vecchi, who left his permanent position driven by a passion for grains and milling.
This strictly stone and water-powered mill produces certified organic flours from corn and minor grains, from which organic and km0 food products are created.
The two mills, probably built in the 16th century, are symbolic of the history of this village and represent one of the most famous sights in the Borlezza Valley.
Another testimony is the hydraulicPestu: reconstructed where parts of the original building’s masonry stood based on a project of the Borlezza Valley ecomuseum, it allows visitors to get a glimpse into the life and economy of the time.
This is a water mill whose motive power was used for the production of tannin, a substance found in the bark of trees, which was used for leather processing and paper production.
In the small park surrounding “ol Pestù” there are also the original millstones of the Onore Mill and an earthen oven built on site in 2013, useful for baking bread.
To rediscover this ancient tradition, there is finally the MACER, Museum of Mills, Milling and Grains, opened in 2018 by the “La Sorgente” association inside what was once the church of San Rocco.
On display of are reconstructions of stone-age “millstones” and even vintage machinery still in working order.