A city founded on pasta: Gragnano

History of pasta production in Gragnano city

Gragnano is an ancient village, probably founded around 89 A.C., set upon hilly lands made fertile by the presence of volcanic residues.

This city has become world famous for its production of pasta, in particular “maccaroni”, an activity documented in the 1500s. In the following centuries the production of pasta in Gragnano continued to develop until it reached its apex in 1861. In that period 75% of the city’s population worked in the maccheroni industry, there were over 100 pasta factories, and they produced over 10000 kilograms of pasta a day. In 1885 the railway reached Gragnano and permitted the faster and more efficient movement of people and goods (wheat, semolina, and pasta).

The following century Gragnano pasta production was confronted with the introduction of industrial pasta production in the north. The number of pasta factories in Gragnano decreased and those that continued their businesses focused on quality.

The symbol of this city is Via Roma: a street purposely created to be the best possible natural area for drying pasta from an architectural point of view – a street designed to refine its position under the sun, becoming the street favored by the best Gulf of Napoli breezes, and therefore the heart of pasta production. The photos from the end of the 1800s and beginning of the 1900s show this street full of poles holding spaghetti put out to air dry.

Today on this road the Festa della Pasta takes place every year. It celebrates the ritual of the art of pasta in Gragnano and lets people relive moments from the past, when pasta was set out on balconies to dry.