Along the route that leads from the Loana Valley, accessible by car from Malesco, to Alpe Scaredi, you’ll find six kilns, ancient and characteristic stone buildings.
The activity and the presence of these kilns for the production of quicklime in the Vigezzo Valley go back a long way – there’s evidence of their presence as far back as the 17th century – but today they are largely unrecognisable as they are hidden from the ground. As part of a project to rediscover and promote ancient trades, one of the kilns has recently been restored.
Quicklime was mainly obtained from limestone, a rock rich in calcium carbonate and marble, found at the high altitudes of Val Loana. The quicklime production process required a large quantity of wood: the stones placed in the kiln were heated gradually until they reached a temperature of about 1000°C over more than a week. Cooling was also gradual: the stones, which had lost more than 30% of their weight during the process, were extracted. Once cooled, calcium oxide (quicklime) was transformed into calcium hydroxide (slaked lime).
Because of the difficulty in production and the long time required to obtain the lime, the kilns in Val Loana were turned on in succession in order to produce as much product as possible. Today the testimony they bear is protected and valued by the Ecomuseum in Malesco.
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