“Corral” or “dairy farm?” The word “cascina” has roots in both. Here at Cascina Bossa, we stand amidst a legacy stretching back centuries.
Cascina Bossa represents a traditional rural building. It is a building typical of the Po Valley in northern Italy. These structures dot Lombardy, Piedmont, and Emilia-Romagna. Known as cascine lombarde, they first appeared around the 16th century. They became more common in the 18th and 19th centuries. During Napoleon’s reign, religious buildings were seized and transformed into cascine.
The term “cascina” appeared in the Middle Ages. It was then spelled capsina, caxina, or cassina. The name may come from the Vulgar Latin “capsia”. Capsia means corral or stockyard. Another idea links it to the Old Italian “cascio” which means cheese. This hints at cascine as dairy farms. Records of these farmhouses date back to the 13th century. By the mid-13th century centralized farms arose near Pavia and Milan. These farms had boxes, stables, houses, mills, and defensive towers.
Typical cascina form a square around a yard. Sometimes they have multiple yards. They stand at the center of cultivated land. Brick buildings line the courtyard. These include houses for the owner or tenant and simpler homes for peasants. Stables, barns, fountains, ovens, stores, mills, and dairies fill the space. As isolated settlements, cascine sometimes housed a hundred people. Many had public buildings like churches, inns, or even schools. Some cascine were fortified with walls, towers, moats, and drawbridges.
Cascine in the High Po Valley were smaller. They housed 4-6 families. Those in the Low Po Valley were larger. They housed 10-15 families or more.
Peasants in cascine had specialized jobs. “Campari” maintained irrigation. “Bergamini” cared for cattle. “Casari” worked in the dairy. “Bifolchi” plowed with oxen. “Cavallanti” plowed with horses. “Contadini” were general farmers. They mainly harvested hay for cattle. Today only “contadini” remains in common use. Larger cascine also employed carpenters, masons, and blacksmiths.
Cascine mainly produced wheat, maize, rice, barley, milk, and cheese. They also grew cottonwood, elm, and mulberry trees. Cascine near cities like Milan grew fresh vegetables. These included cabbage and carrots. They were very profitable in urban markets.
Throughout the 20th century, cascine declined economically. They lost their original function in the Po Valley. Many were demolished or left to decay. Some were absorbed by urban sprawl. They were converted into residential buildings, schools, hotels, or commercial areas. Milan’s airports stand on land once occupied by cascine.
Yet, some old-fashioned cascine still function in the Lombard countryside. In 2008, at least 43 cascine still produced milk in the Province of Milan.
Many place names in Lombardy include “cascina” or “cassina”. These names mark settlements that began as cascine. Examples include Cascina Gobba and Cassina Triulza in Milan. Sometimes, the name “cascina” is dropped. Only the cascina’s name remains. This is the case with neighborhoods in Turin like Aurora and Parella.
Two movies accurately depict life in a cascina. They are Ermanno Olmi’s “The Tree of Wooden Clogs” and Bernardo Bertolucci’s “1900”.
Cascina Bossa stands as a testament to a rich agricultural past. It reminds us of a time when these farmsteads were the heart of rural life in the Po Valley.