Silk Museum

The Silk Museum in Mendicino, opened in December 2015, was created to protect and disseminate a wealth of centuries-old practices and knowledge related to traditional silkworm activities. Exhibition space was established by successfully conservation project by architect Pierfrancesca Palermo on two floors at historic Filanda Gaudio, dating back to 1915: at the ground floor visitors can admire authentic furnace from which the extraction of secretions took place turn later in textile fiber; the upper floor exhibits rather work tools and frames (still working) used for the processing of raw silk and a multimedia space for the vision of audiovisual documents, precious testimonies of those who saw the birth and growth of Filanda, by working for a living. Filanda Gaudio remained in work until 1944 for the production of tissue to be used to parachute for British soldiers. The restoration, which has made it one of the jewels of the town of Mendicino, is part of a wider project to recover the asset of silkworm with the ambition to revive an environmentally friendly economy for the community.