LandWorks Sardinia 2016_Dossier_Nebida-Masua

LANDWORKS Sardinia presents

MASUA-NEBIDA

picture by Ettore Cavalli

picture by Filippo Romano

LANDWORKS Sardinia 2016, operative workshop, 26th May - 05th June 2016 MASUA-NEBIDA_Iglesias(UNESCO heritage), Sardinia, Italy.

The LANDWORKS non-profit Cultural Association, in collaboration with the DADU Department of Architecture, Design and Urbanism, University of Sassari, Municipality of Iglesias, the IGEA Spa, the Environmental Geomineral Park of Sardinia and other partners, will design and realize a number of in-situ projects to underline the significance of the landscape, the natural and cultural UNESCO heritage of the mines complex called MASUA, near PORTO FLAVIA (Iglesias). Together, with local actors and under the guidance of internationally renowned professional guests, the workshop participants will build temporary and permanent installations to open new perspectives and opportunities for future developments.

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LW 2016

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Parco Geominerario, Storico e Ambientale della Sardegna_MASUA-NEBIDA SARDINIA

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MASUA

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NEBIDA

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IGLESIAS

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Parco Geominerario, Storico e Ambientale della Sardegna_MASUA-NEBIDA

MASUA

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picture by www.meteosardegna

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Parco Geominerario, Storico e Ambientale della Sardegna_MASUA-NEBIDA

IGLESIENTE The area of the Iglesiente covers about 480Kmq of South East Sardinia between the areas of Arbus, Guspini and Sulcis. It is particularly rich in mines and in other aspects linked to their thousandyear activity. The most important mines are within the so-called ‘metalliferous ring of the Iglesiente’, where the mineralisation of lead, silver and zinc is found in the carbonate geological formations which, at over 500 million years old, are the most ancient rocks in Italy, dated paleontologically. Other important mines are spread across the territories of the municipalities of Domusnovas, Fluminimaggiore, Buggerai and Gonnesa, home of the only active coal mine in Italy. There are numerous archaeological findings which testify as to the presence of man since the Neolithic age, and through the Nuragic, Punic and Roman ages, all populations who were interested in the mineral resources. Also particularly noteworthy is the evidence of mining activity in the medieval period, which the city of Iglesias in itself is a testament to.

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picture by Gianni Alvito

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Parco Geominerario, Storico e Ambientale della Sardegna_MASUA-NEBIDA

HISTORY OF MASUA jewels of industrial archaeol­ogy that are worth a trip to Sardinia: the Lamarmora washery at Nebida and Porto Flavia at Masua.

At Masua, mining dates back to the Pisa period, with testimony from 1688. In 1813, a priest, Don Carlo Negretti, began to collect samples of ore and opened the way to re­search. In 1859, the Società Anonima delle Miniere di Montesanto translated them into industrial exploitation on 398 hectares of deposits. A mineralogical plant to treat calamine (zinc) was built and galena (lead) was sent to Carloforte, the only safe landing in the area, on racks with lateen sails and then transported to the “continent” by ship. The infiltration of water in the underground tunnels and instability were the perennial problems of this area.

Nevertheless, major shipyards opened up in Masua: by the end of the nineteenth century, they employed 700 workers.

The twentieth century was not favourable for Montesanto: in 1910, the Società Anonima delle Miniere di Lanusei took over.

A kind of Stendhal syndrome, the kind that makes you lose your senses in the face of so much beauty, is what happens when you take the coast up to Nebida and Masua, curve af­ter curve, above abysses of sapphire and em­erald, cobalt and turquoise, alongside white or brown cliffs. The rocks covered by Mediter­ranean scrub seem alive, particularly the rock that juts out of the sea in the distance: soli­tary, monolithic, 134 metres high. A mammoth of waxed limestone that broke away millions of years ago. The Sardinians call it Concali su terraini; in the eighteenth century it became known as Pan di Zucchero (Sugarloaf) because it recalled the promontory of Rio de Janeiro. Geologists and paleontologists from America, Australia and Germany come here to study the very rare red shale or trilobites, fossils of the Cambrian period (550 million years ago). The rest is silence. There are few signs of hu­man presence here.

There is very little left to see of the mining ba­sin except for two 11

picture by Filippo Romano

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picture by Gianni Alvito

Parco Geominerario, Storico e Ambientale della Sardegna_MASUA-NEBIDA

Immediately after the First World War, however, the deposit turned out to be almost exhausted. In 1922, the Belgian Vieille Montaigne company, already owner of the nearby mines of Montecatini and Acquaresi, also took over the Masua mine. Despite technical improvements to contain management costs, Vieille Montaigne fell into crisis and suspended activities in 1935. The SocietĂ per azioni Piombo e Zinco took over, but after World War 2 the veins became increasingly exhausted and the public companies that followed in the 1970s favoured the extraction of mineral oxides and sulphides at Acquaresi before transferring all activities to Campo Pisano in 1991.

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picture by www.lababbajola.com | www.sardegnaremix.com

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Parco Geominerario, Storico e Ambientale della Sardegna_MASUA-NEBIDA

PORTO FLAVIA alongside the coast for the time neces­sary to complete the job: 4 hours instead of the 4 days nee­ ded by galanzieri and racks. It was the end of an era.

The Masua mine is now identified with Porto Flavia, a jewel of engineering that was opened in 1924 (the tower on the sea still bears the engraved name and date in Roman numerals, according to the Fascist custom). Before its opening, materials were shoulder-carried in 70 Kg baskets to lateen sailboats, later motorised.

Approximately 250 racks of this type - from 20-60 tons - were shuttled between the southwest coast of Sardinia and the island of San Pietro. The trip alone took 8 hours. But often the “galanzieri” (those who carried the “galanz” or ga­lena) remained on the job for 14 hours between loading and unloading. Their effort was great, their pay low, and the weather unstable. Engineer Cesare Vecelli put an end to eve­rything. He invented a unique system: two tunnels dug into the mountain in front of Pan di Zucchero. Wagons carrying the minerals arrived in the upper tunnel and through nine silos the minerals reached the lower tunnel. There, a con­veyor belt and mobile arm loaded them on merchant ships capable of mooring 15

picture by GostTown_Lab-PoliMI

picture by GostTown_Lab-PoliMI

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Parco Geominerario, Storico e Ambientale della Sardegna_MASUA-NEBIDA

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picture by Riccardo Andreuccetti

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Parco Geominerario, Storico e Ambientale della Sardegna_MASUA-NEBIDA

NEBIDA A similar fate awaited the Nebida mine, where there is eviden­ce of mineral searching since 1614 and where systematic extraction of minerals began in 1865. Between the 19th and 20th centuries, with the passing over to the Nebida Limited Company, the town (now a part of Iglesias with 1000 per­sons), had 3000 inhabitants. They had decent houses, priva­te vegetable gardens, shops and first aid.

Then came wars, crises, the transition to public bodies, the end of the epic mining period of the 70s-80s. The biggest undertaking was the construction of the Lamarmora washery which opened in1897, overlooking the sea. A very modern plant for those days, with a steam generator, different sections and three flo­ors. It was restored by the Superintendency of Cagliari and Oristano in 1995 and, according to Unesco experts is a per­fect place for contemplation.

A flat scenic trail connects the village of Nebida to the Lamarmora washery along the old railroad for the transportation of minerals. A long stairway takes you down into this realm of silence and beauty.

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picture by Riccardo Andreuccetti

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picture by Tore Aresti

Parco Geominerario, Storico e Ambientale della Sardegna_MASUA-NEBIDA

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CONTACTS www.landworks.eu info@landworks.eu Prof. Stefan Tischer Tel. +39 332 90045877 Email: stefan.tischer@gmail.com Paola Serrittu Tel. +39 340 1400626 Email: paolaserrittu@gmail.com

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www.landworks.eu