Last week I was fortunate enough to be on holiday in Italy visiting Rome and Pompeii. On one of the days which was rather wet we were at a bit of a loose end. I saw a town called Amalfi on the map and remembered (by chance!) that there was a handmade paper mill there. So we hopped in the car and off we went to see a paper mill that was established in the 13th century - real medieval stuff!
It is situated half way up the mountainside on which the town of Amalfi is situated. At one time there were 16 paper mills on the mountain making use of the fast flowing fresh water streaming off the mountain to make paper and power the water wheels. The mill itself (which is now preserved as a museum) is carved out of the solid rock. This is a picture of the mill entrance:
The inside of the mill, hewn out of the rock:
The vats of pulp/water for handmade paper production:
In the 19th century, the mill made inverstments in the new fangled paper machines which are shown below - although they are not currently in production (they only make handmade papers now), they work on the same principle as all modern paper machines.
...and to prove I was actually there, here I am with the machine in the background:
If you are in the area, it is definitely worth a visit.
Posted by Justin Hobson 25.04.2012
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