Muzzano

Muscian

The land of the village is not very vast but rich of panoramic points easy reachable and therefore offers a splendid view of the plain. The upper land called “la Salvina” has large grazing grounds and has been for a long time a place for holidays. There are many streams and  brooks, but the poor productivity of the land has been evident since Medioaeval times. In 1411 the inhabitants of Muzzano with a petition to count Amedeo VIII were granted exemption to repay taxations due for the heavy expenditures caused by feeding the soldiers in the various wars incurred in the area, and many other type of charges.

From “Testimonials” we find two documents stating: “Being a mountain place, full of private debts besides the regular charges due to the Royals and to the Military, most of the inhabitants, bricklayers and wood cutters, leave for 9 months of the year to gain money to repay che charges ….. The year of our Lord 1709”.

  
Only the chestnuts and the vineyards constituted some wealth and therefore, with animal breeding, gathering of the hay and milk products, no shepard-farmer tried an alternative way of life as they knew no other profession.

Life in the village though was different and from here many bricklayers and wook cutters, pavers and the first textile workers left. The first search for work was on the main city or the area around Turin, then toward further lands like France and Switzerland, followed by America and Africa.

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Another reason for depopulation was the industrial transformation. The old artisan who had no work because of the arrival of machineries, was not making money anymore. There were two wool factories in Muzzano: Duchers and Sormano, founded in 1912 with 110 workers and Vercellone, near the Elvo stream. Emigration from Muzzano wat at its pick from half ‘800s to beginning of 1900, the highest number going to Haute Savoy, Lyon, Chambery, Grenoble.

The biographical cards are 87, 13.4% of the inhabitants in 1911. 60.4% of Muzzanesi emigrated to France, 22.9% to Switzerland, 6.2% to Africa, 3.2% to other European countries, 3.1% to Asia, 2.1% to the United States and South America. The family names most frequent are Clerico, Ghirardi, Valcauda, Orlassino e Dejeronimis. The oldest emigrant, in 1792, was a head dyer emigrated to Verviers in Belgium.