The basin, located on the left bank of the Orco torrent, which originally supplied it, was constructed to support the operations of the spinning mill (1841–1950). It is 17 metres long and 8 metres wide. The Municipality bought this and the other Abegg properties, in 1970. Water from the Orco torrent entered this basin through a grate and was channelled through two outflow pipes, one of which carried water to the spinning mill and another which supplied water to the fountain at the Mantegazza house. The water then flowed to the Gnecchi house and finally to the Abegg properties. The Orco torrent has an almost constant water flow and this reservoir also served the various operations involved in silk processing.
This basin had various uses, in fact; historical records indicate that until around 1930, ice reserves were collected here during the winter frosts and then taken away.
The ice would be broken and hooked, loaded into baskets and transported to the two village icehouses, the so-called “giazzérî”. One of these can still be observed today at the start of the road to Galbiate, “la Giazzéra”, while the other was located in via S. Rocco. They were the fridges of that era.
