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It's located on the valley floor, far from
the town center, at the boundary of the communes of Sala Monferrato and
Cereseto.
The complex, now in complete ruin, was famous for its abundance of water
rich in sulphuric salts which emitted a "perfume" that could be smelled
even in the village. It was a destination for those from the surrounding
villages and from Casale, who would have joyful picnics, dances and games
of bowls or "elastic ball".
After the Second World War, the complex was restored but likely due to the
instalment of faucets and the tapping of the water in other places, the
fountain lost its "perfume" and, over the years, much of its flow.
Abandoned for decades, it continued to be a destination for groups of
young people and those who were nostalgic for the past.
During the '70s and '80s the fountain, by now in ruins, was put into the
custody of Giuseppe Padovani, an extraordinary person endowed with
strong will and the courage required to deal with the solitude and the
distance of the place from Treville and with the absence of water and
electric light in the buildings.
Although missing an arm, he made improvements, until he could no longer do
so, and gave new life to the isolated ruins. Every now and then he would
exhibit his "zoo," a series of chalk animals he distributed along the
paths and in the gardens of the complex.
At the beginning of the '80s the Commune still showed its attachment to
the site with a big cookout on the occasion of the village fair. But when
Giuseppe Padovani died, the complex again fell into a complete ruin.
1979 - fair for Giuseppe Padovani
At the beginning of the 20th century, the spring was
celebrated by Albino Defilippi, the poet from Treville, in this way
(Piemontese dialect):
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"Tarvilla a l'ha la furtuna
che fra 'l pochi so bel rarità
a l'ha 'l buneur d'aveine una
che mi ades am pias numinà.
Lè la funtanna sulfurusa
c'la da dl'acqua c'la fa tant ben,
lè fresca, sanna, purtentusa,
bevì pira as paga nen.
Tanti van alla funtanna,
per godi là 'l divertiment,
se l'idea an làn nen sanna
alzu spali e pensu nent.
I fieui van in bicicletta
col bianc fular al saccucìn,
e in bucca la sigaretta,
e finna qui ad mal ie nen.
Tcò tante fije van vulantera
(ancur pi tant che al divozion)
a beivi d'acqua, o d'barbera,
o se treuvu un bon padron".
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The spring in 2004 (A. Frixa) |
(see
old
pictures)
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