Fornace

Among "cadini e canope" and the intense mining activities of mining silver

Fornace rises on the terraced moraines of the south east slopes of Montepiano at an altitude of 740 m and it is one of the main centres for porphyry quarrying and working. The mining industry is the main source of income for the area. The territory offers the chance of many pleasant walks and excursions. These include, for example, the famous historic-cultural itinerary known as the Monte Piano Route, which starts from the Castle square and leads to the many remains, open to visitors, of the mining activities dating back to the middle ages.

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It appears that Fornace was inhabited in ancient times. Remains found in a Roman burial ground attest that it was certainly a Latin center; it was also important in the Lombard and Frankish periods.
It was Giacomo di Roccabruna, in 1462, who initiated the work of building the castle, which was then continued in 1566 by his great-grandchildren who rebuilt the building with Renaissance forms. The castle then passed to the Gaudenti nobles and then to the Giovanelli counts, who sold it to the municipality in 1853.
The vicissitudes of Fornace are intertwined with the intense mining activity of the silver mines on Mount Calisio. It is assumed that its name also originates from this ancient activity: "Fornas" (furnaces) would indicate ovens for smelting silver.
Near the hamlet of St. Stephen, isolated among the fields, is the ancient little church of the same name. It was dedicated to St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage and martyr, and its origins probably date from between 500 and 600 AD. The building, shows late Gothic reconstructions of the 16th century and the characteristic raised bell tower with Romanesque mullioned windows with two lights. Inside it preserves remarkable frescoes such as those in the Gothic latticework of the vault and the remains of an ancient tomb. From this church comes the famous late Gothic triptych, altar of St. Dominic, now kept at the Diocesan Museum of Trent.
Dominating the center of Fornace are the church of S. Martino and Fornace Castle. The church, recorded as early as 1160, underwent remodeling in the 16th century and in the second half of the 19th-early 20th century. To the side of the church stands the southeastern part of the castle of medieval imprint, but with evidence of the Renaissance period.