Metal melting in an artistic foundry – Tour

Metal melting in an artistic foundry: Visit the only store left!

Everyone knows that Venice is a city built on water, but it is also the city with many craft workshops. In some you can come to participate in a craft course in Venice or simply to watch a craft carried on for generations.

Venice in centuries past was a city rich in artistic foundries. The term “ghetto” itself testifies to this; in fact, the word originated here in the 14th century from the Venetian “geto”-which Jews of German origin pronounced “ghèto”-to refer to the casting of molten metal inside an iron foundry.

And did you wonder why there were so many foundries? One reason is related to the most famous of Venice’s symbols, the gondola; think of at least five or six workshops working to make a single part of it.

Metal melting in an artistic foundry

Today, of all these ironworking-related workshops, only one remains, proud of its century of experience and tradition. This foundry was able to withstand two world wars and brought its creations to the most prestigious palaces in the city. Even famous artists such as Jean Arp or Queen Elizabeth herself decided to take home souvenirs during their visits to Venice and this foundry.

In the 1960s and 1970s their fame grew again, particularly in the United States of America, to the point of making a chandelier for the White House at the time of the Kennedy family.

The foundry, active since 1913, has left traces of itself all over Venice, and to find them you need only look around: most of the arms of the street lamps that light up the city were cast in their workshops. In 1989, during the unforgettable Pink Floyd concert some of the streetlights were damaged, and they were the ones who repaired them.

Visit to the artistic Foundry

Welcoming you will find Carlo, an employee of the foundry for 36 years and now its owner. He will take you on a tour of his historic foundry, showing you all the processes from start to finish; how the creation of an object begins, how the mold is made, the traditional stirrup or lost-wax methods, as well as the special dowel molding. You will then witness the casting and finishing until you reach the finished object.

Metal melting artistic foundry: An event not to miss….

The melting of iron is a crucial phase for the work of a blacksmith, something similar to a ritual which takes place once a week in our foundry and that we would like to invite you to see.

If you want to witness this magical event, be sure to attend the visit on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m.!

This is the moment when the furnace of the forge is lit and the metal to be poured into the appropriate molds is melted, according to the work commissioned; it is a very important and the most fascinating phase of this craft. By witnessing this practice, you will learn a lot about the history of blacksmiths in Venice and the thousands of anecdotes surrounding it. Techniques and traditions are passed down from generation to generation.

You will hear many memories and get in touch with an ancient knowledge that you can only find here in Venice, in its artisan workshops.

Would you like more information? Would you like to join a collective tour for this experience?

Use the Contact us click here! We are at your disposal!

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