Segheria veneziana di Penia (Canazei)

La Sia is a historic water-powered sawmill in Penìa di Canazei, in Val di Fassa. It forms a local section of the Museo Ladin de Fascia, preserving a working example of the valley’s timber-processing heritage.

Why it matters

The sawmill connects the history of local woodland with the machinery used to turn timber into building materials. Its Venetian-type mechanism represents a technology once important to the valley’s economy.

What to notice

The relationship between water power and the saw’s moving parts is central to the building’s character. Rather than displaying a detached machine in a gallery, La Sia preserves the sawmill as an industrial structure in its original village setting.

Context and history

A sawmill at Penìa is documented from the sixteenth century. The present structure was built in 1922 by Giacomo Dellagiacoma, known as Giochelon, a carpenter from Predazzo. Restoration by Giuseppe Longo of Tesero between 1985 and 1988 recovered the machinery’s operation and secured the survival of this part of Fassa’s material culture.