A tourist visiting Como - a town looking onto the lake by the same name, eased between soft hills - cannot leave the city without getting acquainted with its most typical and traditional product, silk. In shops and factories you just have to choose between ties, foulards and everything that can be made with this precious fabric.Silk production dates back to the domination of the Savoia, but even today it is the city's strong point: every year the International events "Idea Como" and "Como Moda" are dedicated to it. Since 1990, also, you can visit the "Museo didattico della Seta", which was created as a rightful testimonial of Como's silk history, a tangible sign of a continuity between past and present, of an industry that maintains a primacy compared to the whole world.
The Museum covers an area of about 900 square metres and is located in the same building as the textile school, the Setificio. It is divided in various halls following onto the central reception hall, where a factory entrance was recreated, and an there is an exhibit of precious factory timeclocks.
In the various rooms, machinery and looms used in the past Como plants. In the central hall, after a brief overview on silkworm breeding and trattura (silk spinning), instruments for weaving preparation; in the weaving room there are two hand looms, one jacquard and one double dobby loom with pattern reading through small boards.
When you enter the controls and measurements room, the chemical lab is faithfully rebuilt with period furniture and instruments. The room dedicated to the dyeworks, followed by the printworks keeps, among others, the colour kitchen and a hand printing table with paintings, period drawings and tools for photo incision.
A further section is reserved for the display of models of small mechanised machines for flat printing and for roller printing. The last room is devoted to the special finishing of textiles. Of particular interest is a plating machine, an old wooden machine which created the moiré effect on silk, and the important 1932 Palmer.
A visit to the museum is an excellent opportunity to get better acquainted with the history of the city, understanding how the silk fabric is made, how the yarn is obtained, how the precious yarns are obtained, how they are coloured and finally, how the famous prints designers the world over love so much are made.
August.2002
The silk museum
Municipality of Como (In Italian)
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