Iglesias, Seddas Moddizzis Mine and Asproni Village

Gonnesa, Seddas Moddizzis Mine. Photo by Regione Sardegna Press Office, from Sardegna DL

The mine includes several buildings, located in an area of great environmental interest. Granted in 1870 to the engineer Giorgio Asproni, the mine was then acquired by the Monteponi Company, which disbanded it in 1963.
The settlement takes the name of Asproni village and groups several interesting buildings: the management is a simple single-storey building concluded by a brick frame that also forms the frames of the door and windows, the latter with a low arch with decorations that recall a geometric Liberty.
The director's villa consists of an H-shaped block with two front bodies that enclose a garden. In the central part, you can see a three-story tower with sharp and circular arched openings and concluded with blackbirds. In the other walls, covered by a frame resting on perforated bricks arranged like denticles, there are repeated openings with lowered arches and decorated with exposed bricks.
The cellar, or shop, has arched porches on two sides, while the church of Santa Barbara is built with exposed stone, has an arched entrance and is dominated by a two-light sailing bell tower.
The mineral treatment plants are downstream of the cultivation sites and are spread over two floors with variously aggregated openings and concluded by a central tympanum.
The laveria consists of volumes aggregated at different levels and leaning against a hill of barns in a spectacular and open position on the valley.
The mine is part of the Geominerary, Historical and Environmental Park of Sardinia, recognized by UNESCO.

History of studies
The mine is included in several works on industrial archeology in Sardinia.

Interventions carried out by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia (PNRR Rural Architecture)
The restoration and rehabilitation interventions aimed at the redevelopment of Casa Asproni within the homonymous village located in Locality Seddas Moddizzis in Iglesias, have made it possible to recover the first floor of the original building structure through the reconstruction of the roofs. However, the intervention project should not be limited to a single artifact, but in relation to the anthropogenic context in which the building was built at the beginning of the twentieth century and of which it still represents the most valuable architectural element today.
Thanks to the roof restoration project, it is now possible to preserve the historical, cultural and architectural heritage that the building still holds within its walls today, making it accessible and usable to the public.

Bibliography
S. Mezzolani-A. Simoncini, Sardegna da salvare. Paesaggi e architettura delle miniere, Nuoro, Archivio fotografico Sardo, 1993, pp. 194-212;
Eclettismo e miniere. Riflessi europei nell'architettura e nella società sarda tra '800 e '900, catalogo della mostra, a cura di M.B. Lai-P. Olivo-G. Usai, MiBAC [2004].

How to get there
The Sedda Moddizzis mine can be reached via the detour from the SS 126 both from Gonnesa and Iglesias.