ice house

A pit several meters deep dug into the earth, with retaining walls of stone or brick and closed at the top with a masonry vault, intended for the storage and preservation of snow, in order to have ice (compacted snow) available during the months of the year in which the snow accumulated on the ground melts. The earliest historical references to this type of construction go back to Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, some 3,000 years ago. The Greeks and Romans also made use of ice stored in pits, using it for therapeutic purposes and to cool drinks in summer. During the Little Ice Age (LIA), the commercial activity linked to snow reached its peak, with many pits being built from the 14th century onward. By the end of the 19th century the decline had begun, as the end of the LIA coincided with the invention of refrigeration machines and the manufacture of artificial ice. The snow pit is also known by other names such as cava, nevera, or artificial nevero. Although their design varies from one to another, all of them have a small access door, which leads to a narrow internal side staircase by which one can go down to the bottom or to the level reached by the snow stored inside. When a heavy snowfall occurred in the area where the pit was located, a system was set in motion involving several hundred people who, in a coordinated manner, took charge of transporting large quantities of snow - carried on their backs - to the entrance of the pit and, once there, threw it inside. Inside, several workers piled and compacted it appropriately. Once winter had passed, the reverse operation was carried out: the collection of the ice, which, once cut into blocks, was transported on mules to nearby population centers, where it was sold and distributed. Many of these pits are still standing, some of which have been restored.