Musei della Cartiera Papale - Ascoli Piceno

I recently dove into some local history by visiting the Musei della Cartiera Papale with our group. The Papal Paper Mill Museum, translated to English, is the historic paper mill which was originally used as a grain mill. The tour was done in English by a very kind guide who, in order, led us through the process of paper making. 

First for a bit of history, the mill is called the Papal Paper Mill because it’s restoration was commissioned by a pope in the early 16th century. However, it is suspected that the grain mill usage dates back to the early 12th century. To me, a major part of its beauty is it’s composition of travertine stone which is whitish/tan and by looking at it, makes it seem like you’ve been transported back to Ancient Roman or Medieval times. 

We began by seeing where water was collected in order to run all the machines. This collection place was at the top of the hill and pooled above a system of locks and channels that are at a 60% slope in order for the water to gain speed to power the grain mill and paper mill. 

(collection place)

(channel system from two different angles)

The water collected from a diversion of the Castellano river first hits an innovative “water wheel” that consisted of many large wooden “spoons” that caught water and were propelled by it (photo #1). These powered the grain mills which consisted of a stationary stone with ridges that is suspended above the stone that is moved by the water (photo #2). Grain was poured into the system through a hole in the stationary stone and ground by the motion and ridges of the stones. They also had a really cool reconstruction of what this would have looked like. (photo #3)

Now for the paper!

The very beginning of the paper making process was intriguing because it didn’t begin the typical way with pulp from trees and instead made from old clothing and rags which were boiled and scraped for their fibers. To further separate the fibers, these pieces were left to ferment and then chopped up before being transferred for further disturbance. 

These pieces were put into this machine (photo #4) where water, coming from a lock below the grain machines, powered the mill that consisted of many different hammers until the rags resembled a paste that is called “half-stuff.” This paste was strained by a mesh frame and put onto a mold and then transferred to a felt piece until the pile reached about one hundred pieces and then they were pressed by this machine (photo #5). Finally this product was brought to a room on the upper level to dry.

This was such a fun tour because it felt like being transported back to medieval Ascoli. We also got to explore the collection of naturalist Antonio Orsini who was a very prolific collector of local plants, herbs, and fossils and it was super cool!

photo #1

photo #2

photo #3

photo #4

photo #5

Ciao ciao!