Castello Washhouse
The washhouse was the public space where laundry was washed, before running water in houses. The models of construction, water supply and location of the washhouses varied greatly. There were single-tub washhouses (divided into two parts, the smaller one for rinsing), multi-tub washhouses (the more modern ones) and along artificial or natural watercourses.
The oldest washtubs were made of a single stone basin, which could be found locally or easily transported. The basin was fed by a hand pump and the clothes were washed on rough stone slabs, so that they did not slip on the inclined plane. Around the middle of the twentieth century the wash houses underwent their last modernisation, before being replaced by domestic washing machines: cement took the place of stone, both in the construction of the tubs and the washing surfaces. Today, the wash-houses are an element of street furniture and historical evidence.
