Legal battle over Capriate's historic washhouse: the municipality is expropriating it for restoration, and the former owner is demanding more money.

Capriate San Gervasio (Bergamo), November 8, 2025 – For decades, it has been a meeting and social hub for the women of the Crespi d'Adda workers' village, founded in 1877, the best-preserved industrial site in Europe, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995. Now, however, the historic washhouse, built between 1878 and 1890 and currently undergoing restoration, is the subject of a legal battle over its value. The contenders are, on one side, the Municipality of Capriate San Gervasio, the town where the workers' village is located, which expropriated the property to save it from the state of disrepair it had been in for years, recognizing its value at €35,000, and, on the other, its former owner, a family from Bergamo, who are seeking greater compensation.

For this reason, she appealed to the Provincial Expropriation Commission, which essentially ruled in her favor, awarding the former washhouse a value of €137,562 plus €11,962 for the land. This assessment was contested by the municipal administration, which appealed to the Brescia Court of Appeal , whose ruling is expected next February. In the meantime, the judges have appointed a court-appointed technical consultant (CTU) to assess the historic washhouse. For this reason, the Municipality of Capriate has decided to appoint a third-party expert.

The mayor of Capriate Cristiano Esposito

"Once restored, the washhouse will perhaps regain the value assigned to it by the Provincial Expropriation Commission," emphasizes Capriate Mayor Cristiano Esposito. "When we expropriated it, it was just a ruin that we took on the task of restoring." The restoration project, costing a total of €250,000 , is currently underway and should be completed next spring.