Water: an invaluable asset
Do you know how precious this liquid is?
Every day we are in contact
but we forget to really respect it
Many waste it,
others use it unconsciously,
few know its enormous environmental importance
moreover we humans are constituted, think a little, for more than 60% of it
so follow us to discover the inestimable value of water
Also known as oxide or dihydrogen monoxide
water is the chemical compound most present on our planet
of its importance the great one had also noticed
Leonardo da Vinci and other intellectuals of the sixteenth century
Leonardo, during his stay in Vaprio d'Adda,
he devoted himself to water studies, demonstrating remarkable skills in hydraulics and engineering
These studies reveal interesting analogies with anatomical ones
on the movement of the blood and on the movement of the hair
as shown by the sketches left
Yes, one of the largest rivers in our territory, the Adda
has undergone the manipulation of the great Tuscan inventor
It was 1482, when Leonardo da Vinci, just arrived in Milan
he was commissioned to study a system that would allow navigation of the Adda river
from Lago di Como to Milan
A solution to this problem can be found in some drawings of the Atlantic code
kept at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan
where a large dam of the river is assumed in the Tre colli area at Cornate d'Adda
Another brilliant solution for overcoming the 23.76 meter height difference
of the Paderno rapids was conceived in the mid-sixteenth century by the engineer and painter Giuseppe Meda
which devised a new basin that later became the Paderno Canal
In 1591 the works begin, but they are not completed, to be resumed in 1773 and completed in 1777
With the use of the Paderno Canal, a very advantageous navigable route opened up
for trade in iron, coal, salt, wood and granite
The Paderno Canal gradually lost part of its commercial importance
when between 1896 and 1898 hydroelectric power plants were installed on the Adda
However, it remained in operation also for tourist excursions
until the termination of all activities in 1930
So far we have only observed the interventions and changes
which have made the waterways of our territory commercially active in the 1700s
We have paid particular attention to the Adda and the Paderno Canal
looking at them from a navigability perspective
In the following years the most brilliant minds of the time
realized the immense value that constituted the main Lombard watercourse
They realized that the water energy could be exploited to produce electricity
and it is precisely from this intuition that, starting in 1895, hydroelectric power plants began to be built on the Adda
The power stations present on this stretch of river, that of the ecomuseum Adda by Leonardo da Vinci, are three:
the Bertini plant, in Porto d'Adda, one of the oldest hydroelectric plants still operating in Europe
and the Taccani and Esterle power plants in Trezzo, which together produce more than 40 megawatts of energy
Isn't this sustainable energy?
An important point on which to dwell is the attention paid to the places we have been able to observe
They are part of the ecomuseum Adda by Leonardo da Vinci, an ecomuseum that follows the course of the river
from the local administrations of Imbersago and Villa d'Adda to the north,
up to the local administration of Cassano d'Adda to the south
along a 21 km cycle-pedestrian path inside the Adda Nord Park
between the provinces of Lecco, Bergamo, Monza and Milan
The purpose of the museum is to enhance the naturalistic, engineering, architectural and historical local heritage
with particular attention to the testimonies of the passage of Leonardo da Vinci
that in these areas, as we have already mentioned, he carried out various studies
The museum can boast the presence of a site included in the list of world heritage sites
as well as several masterpieces of Italian industrial archeology still functioning
and some military fortifications, which testify to the strategic importance of the Adda,
historic border between the Duchy of Milan and the Republic of Venice
We could understand together the enormous value of water in our territory,
water that allowed trade and still allows the production of electricity,
water that allows our everyday life,
water that allows you to be alive
