The image of the mill in Italy is now inextricably linked to the Barilla family’s Mulino Bianco. It has been exactly fifty years since the launch of the country’s most famous brand of biscuits and snacks, and in the late 1980s a commercial by Giuseppe Tornatore gave the logo a physical appearance, finding a perfect match in the Mulino delle Pile in Chiusdino, in the province of Siena (which has long been up for sale). That image became familiar even to those who, perhaps, had never seen a real mill. And yet, Italy is full of them, even though there’s no proper national register.c

The Associazione Italiana Amici dei Mulini Storici – AIAMS – has done a great job of archiving, identifying just over four hundred watermills (a small fraction of those that were operational until the 1960s). Most of the mills surveyed by the organisation are still functioning: some have returned to traditional milling, others are sawmills, museums, or offer educational experiences.