The building that housed the former fileria De Schappe is located in the municipality of Rozzano (province of MIlan), where the third lock of the Naviglio Pavese and its waterfall (producing hydroelectricity) permitted the building of a factory to comb and card fibre by the Société Anonyme de Filatures de Schappe of Lyon in 1898. The product obtained was then sent to the other companies in the group to complete the product cycle.
Until the outbreak of WWII, the Filature di Rozzano was one of the most important industries in the area south of Milan.
The conflict, however, brusquely interrupted its activity: the building was immediately requisitioned by the Italian government because it was French-owned, and activity ground to a halt because of a lack of prime materials. It was later requisitioned by the Germans and only returned to French hands after Liberation. However, due to the damage sustained and, in particular, to the advent of nylon as a market competitor, the factory closed definitively in 1953.
Today the complex conserves its original structure with its chimneys while the factory, canal and hydraulic machines used to manage the lock are visible at the back.
Fondazione Lombardia Film Commission
Via Bergamo, 7 – 20032 Cormano (MI)
Phone: +39 02 89410090
Fax: +39 02 89422766
Email: filmcom@filmcomlombardia.it
