The ancient activities characteristic of the agro-silvopastoral dimension are reborn in Montegrosso. The entire village has dedicated itself to the reconstruction of traditional activities. Not least among them is chestnut cultivation, a true winter survival system. The main nucleus consists of the exhibition “The Tamed Forest,” hosted on the ground floor of the former elementary school building, which illustrates historical and botanical aspects, economic uses, and techniques for processing and preserving chestnuts, also recovering tools such as the “seccherecci” used to facilitate the removal of chestnut husks. Visitors can appreciate, in a specially constructed niche, the chestnut beating machine presented as the first example of overcoming traditional manual processing. The operation of the machine, occasionally activated, is explained by panels with images and text. From here begins an outdoor route that first leads to a recently restored drying shed, then to a clearing in the forest above the village where two charcoal kilns have been rebuilt (one whole and one sectioned). This is the ancient and evocative method of the wood stack, which burns for days, producing a fair amount of charcoal inside. Next to it, the charcoal burner’s house has also been restored; the burner had to spend time beside the stack to monitor its proper functioning. Once, all the Ligurian forests were marked by this traditional presence.
Information about The Tamed Forest
Piazza Sagrato, 3
18023 Montegrosso Pian Latte (Imperia)
Source: MIBACT
