In Croveo, a hamlet of Baceno in the Antigorio Valley, a stone building rests against a large rock acting as a wall. This unique building houses the ancient press.
There are many presses throughout Ossola Valley, some particularly worthy of note. A Piedmontese type press, the one in Croveo consists of a large beam measuring eight metres (26 ft) in length and flanked by a millstone. The structure was used to press grapes, apples, pir (a particular variety of pears cultivated on the terraces of the Antigorian mountains), hemp and walnuts, following the seasonal cycles of agricultural production.
In autumn, when the apples had not yet matured, the pir were brought to the press, crushed in the millstone and then pressed to obtain a unique drink known to the inhabitants of Croveo as vign at pir.
Walnuts, on the other hand, were ground and pressed to produce an oil that was used daily in the houses of the village, while hemp was prepared for spinning.
The Croveo press is one of the ancient testimonies of peasant and rural life in these valleys. Its beam is engraved with the date 1766. The inhabitants of Croveo, who own the press, recently sold it to the local authorities, provided that they undertook to renovate it and keep it alive and usable.
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