Not far from the town of Sanarica is the Sticchi factory, an abandoned and magical place. It looks like a real Federico Fellini set. The industrial complex was used to extract oil from pomace and used an innovative system that took advantage of carbon sulfide produced from sulfur from the nearby Santa Cesarea spa owned by the Sticchi family.
The construction of the plant began in 1901 and after 3, 4 years it was already in operation although it was completed in 1908. The task was entrusted to the engineer Corti (father of the writer Maria Corti) who also designed the chimney. The location of the Sansificio proved to be ideal given the presence on the surface (no deeper than 10 m) of an aquifer.
The water and sulphur were used to operate the mining machines and to facilitate the water supply a network of artesian wells connected by an underground tunnel was built.
The plant purchased the residual pomace from the production of oil and olives from mills scattered throughout the province.
Among the many customers of the factory there was also PALMOLIVE. The factory however had a short life because in 1914 a fire broke out from the boilers and destroyed the tile roofs and the artifacts. The oil mill was no longer active and was adapted to lime until the First World War, to then be transformed in the 30s and 40s into a tobacco factory.
A second fire definitively compromised its structure, and that is how it appears today.
di Dario Melissano
Photos by Author
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