Opificio delle Acque - Document Learning Center

The building where the Opificio delle Acque is located was called from the very beginning Opificio della Grada because it was built near the point of entry of the Reno Canal into the city, defended by an iron grid which is still visible outside the walls along Viale Vicini.

The hydraulic factory, built in 1681-83 as a leather tannery or Pellacaneria, has allowed the flow of water from the canal to be controlled for centuries in order to distribute it to the various productive, industrial, artisan and agricultural activities, preserving the city from flooding through a dense network of conduits, designed since the 12th century and maintained for centuries until today.

The Opificio delle Acque - Centro didattico documental located on the ground floor of the building, renovated between 2018-2020 on a project by arch. Francisco Giordano, aims to deepen through multiple cultural activities the centuries-old link between the urban development of Bologna and the maintenance of the ancient hydraulic structures, which still ensure the proper functioning of the network, today largely hidden from view.

The seat of Canali di Bologna and of the Historical Consortium Archive has been named Opificio delle Acque (Water Works) because of its origins and subsequent uses (tannery, grain mill, rice mill, hydroelectric power plant). A place now destined to cultural, expositive and didactic initiatives, dedicated to the knowledge of themes pertinent to the history and to the actuality of Bologna Città d'Acque, and more in general to the different typologies of hydraulic structures existing in the metropolitan and regional territory, as well as to the multiple possibilities to consider the presence of water as a common good and to preserve the ancient structures as cultural heritage of the city.