Crespi d'Adda Village, Bergamo

In the province of Bergamo, near Trezzo d'Adda, a bit hidden between the Brembo and Adda rivers lies this extraordinary village. The result of the commitment of the Crespi family, cotton industrialists, more than a century ago. In 1878 Cristoforo B. Crespi decided to build in that green corner, near the water and a bit isolated, a modern factory. Unlike other industrialists, Crespi believed that a comfortable and quiet life was of vital importance for the workers and for the proper functioning of the factory. He had three buildings built together with the plant for the workers who worked in the cotton mill. His son Silvio, returning from his studies in Great Britain, proposed the construction of a real workers' village. Houses complete with external services and garden were built. The families were large and they found enough space in the beautiful, comfortable homes. The gardens were charged for a vegetable garden, so people became almost self-sufficient and had something to do beyond work. The village was slowly completed completely. Nothing was missing. The church full of frescoes and the house of the parish priest not far away, near the doctor's house. Public toilets, a laundry room, a grocery store, a hospital and even a school.
The Crespi especially cared for the education of young people. The school days were long and in addition to normal subjects, the children were also taught the techniques of working in the factory. The management also lived in the village but in beautiful villas, one different from the other. The Crespi family built the Castle, a large medieval villa next to the factory. Nothing was missing, a short distance from the village, there was the cemetery with the mausoleum for the master family. This beautiful place remained as it was then, with so many houses still inhabited by descendants of the old workers. Ordered and clean remains a unique country, to be visited without a doubt.