A large abandoned Ceramics factory in Italy.
Sadly Maša Kores Photography, As The Light Slowly Fades and myself had to leave the beautiful lake and headed further south until we found ourselves here. After all this wasn't a trip for natural beauty, and we had a lot of miles to cover in a short space of time.
At the beginning of the 20th century the area was in a financial crisis, and needed an injection of financial wealth. This factory was seen as a prosperous venture for the province. It was up and running in no time and started production with a total of 6 employees.
Originally producing stoves and flower pots demand increased at an incredible rate as did the headcount of the factory and its size. New products were added including wells and bathroom suites.
Production here was almost postponed during the world wars as the staff had to join the army and go to battle on the frontline and clay from France became unavailable. This didn't hinder the production though as the clay was sourced from the hills closer to home.
After WWII production started to boom and the headcount peaked at around 1300 employees. This injection of work and money helped the area financially tremendously. Things were good until the 1980's when competition became fierce in the market and the factory struggled to compete.
Eventually it all got too much and the factory finally closed in the 1990's. It seems as though it was with immediate effect as sinks and WCs are left laying around unglazed in abundance.
