The Frisanco Visitor's Center

Built in the former Poffabro dairy building, the structure  opened in April 1933 is now divided into four parts: the dairy itself on the ground floor; the permanent "In mont - the Park's summer pastures" exhibit, and the naturalistic aspects of the Park and Val Colvera all on the second floor.

After providing a summary of the history of dairies in the region, the ground floor dedicates particular interest to the Frisanco Dairy, from the first meetings to the constitution of the Società Latteria Sociale Turnaria (Turnaria Social Dairy Company) of Poffabro-Casasola in October, 1932, the building's inauguration in 1933, and its organisation and operation until the latter half of the ’60s.

The Dairy's processing room has been maintained with its original machinery and equipment for cheese production (1930's), notable among which are the operation system powered by drive belts run by electric motor, the stationary boilers for the heating of the milk and the cheese pressing bench with all its movable weights (the old Friuli way of making cheese). Upstairs, a Park welcome section presents the most significant aspects of its geology, botany, and wildlife. A special section has been dedicated to the particular architecture, landscape and geology of Val Colvera, where this Visitor's Center is located.

The permanent “In mont - the Park's summer pastures” exhibit shows the interior of the mountain dairy with the reproduction of the mussa (dialectic term for the rotating post to which the cheese-making boiler was suspended) and all the tools used for the processing and transformation of milk into cheese, butter and ricotta. A multi-media presentation area documents the information collected up until now on the existing dairies (even those in state of ruin) in the Park area: a gradually disappearing institution that once provided mountain families with an important second income.

This land of noble handicraft traditions may be seen in Frisanco and the hamlets of Poffabro, Casasola, Colvere, Pian delle Merie and Valdestali, where rural architecture is characterised by three- or four-storied homes with wooden balconies supported by towering stone pillars.

The Poffabro Dairy: Constitution

The Dairy originally included supporter partners, or rather those who supplied support and labour during the building's construction but did not contribute milk, shareholding partners, or rather those who purchased shares in the dairy (initially priced at 100 Lire) and milk-suppliers, or those who due to economic hardship or distrust of institutions never became dairy shareholders but brought their milk and enjoyed certain benefits.

Despite a certain diffidence that still remains among some members of the population, the Poffabro-Casasola Dairy was opened on Sunday, April 9, 1933, with 70 registered shareholders  and 63 initial milk suppliers, whose number rose to 114 by the end of the year.

Production

Production data have been taken from the milk flow registers and work books, even if both documents present shortcomings.

Between 1933 and 1963, the dairy processed a total of 68,740 hectolitres of milk and produced 600,030 kg of cheese and 88,500 kg of butter.

"In mont" is the key word in all the Park's villages, and indicates the activities carried out during the warmer months in medium and high altitude pastures (1000 - 2000 meters above sea level).

Every family had its own livestock, ranging in number from one to dozens of heads.

Summer mountain pasture grazing has been practised since ancient times in order to make maximum use of the territory: going “in mont” meant using a part of the land that would have otherwise served no purpose and permitted fodder to be set aside for the winter months at the same time.

Extremely few summer pastures are grazed today, and the activity has been slowly dying out since the end of the Second World War as a result of the rapid and continuous industrialisation process that has led to the abandonment of family livestock breeding.

The Park puts great emphasis on the revival of mountain activities  conducted regularly in the past, and summer pasture grazing in particular, a source not only of extra income for mountain people but also an example of how Man can live in harmony with Nature. The mountain dairies that have been restructured in typical local architecture and provided with modern comforts represent the hope that the ancient profession of the mountain dairy worker will continue being performed in our valleys.

Data on local summer pasture grazing.