Boat tour on the dam of Panperduto

Starting from the Long Villoresi Canal in the locality of Panperduto, it is immediately possible to observe the majestic Dam, a work inaugurated in 1884 by the project of Eugenio Villoresi. The canal, which was born here and which still bears the name of its illustrious designer today, has completely transformed the territory and the activities connected to it, making an unproductive land fertile and becoming fundamental in the agricultural economy of the countryside north of Milan.

Continuing the 1300-meter route, on the Ticino river you reach the Porto della Torre barrage where the hydroelectric power station of the same name is located, close to Lake Maggiore.

Immersed in these territories, in addition to the immense works of engineering, there is the Italian/Swiss Water Museum, located on the island of Confurto. The ancient building, once used for maintenance equipment, has been renovated to allow the visitor to grasp the essentiality of water for human and natural life. Next to the museum there is the “Garden of Water Games”, a play area designed to understand and experience the movement and power of water. Visitors can interact with the various installations, creating a unique edutainment experience.

Complete the experience of visiting the whole Panperduto complex, and the activities proposed for visiting schools and groups, reproducing in miniature one of the most important hydraulic junctions in Lombardy.

The navigation on the Panperduto Dam takes about 50 minutes.

Did you know that …?

There are several curiosities that can be found on the canals, here are some:

1) The Industrial Canal and the Villoresi Canal are born from this dam, thanks to which the waters of the Naviglio Grande are fed

2) Origin of the name: The first version derives from the meaning as “missing bread”, as the economic effort for its realization would not have brought the right benefits in terms of irrigation. The second version, on the other hand, is older and consider this area as rich in dangerous rapids, where the boatmen, who transported goods to Milan, often lost their cargo or “Pan Missed” or Panperduto.

3) Inside the Museo delle Acque there is a map of the territory on a 1: 1500 scale, which represents the area from Sesto Calende to Vizzola Ticino, near Malpensa Airport, in the south of the dam.