In the Vesuvian area, outside the urban centres, the farm has represented the model of development of the territory after the great destructive eruptions of the volcano.
These farms, which are not large in size, are still the expression of a complex farm, with rooms used as stables, cells for processing and storage of wine, the farmyard for
drying of agricultural products. The rural building was developed mainly as a “court” and represented the focal point of the organization of the “mass” that is, the landed estate.
One of the main cultivations was the production of grapes for winemaking; the building structure allowed to carry out the whole process for the production and conservation of wine:
– pressing
– fermentation
– pressing
– conservation
– pouring
The production and building scheme of the farms has remained practically unchanged compared to the “villae rusticae” of the Roman era. The main and most obvious variation is the replacement of the “dolia” in terracotta with wooden barrels for the preservation of wine.
…and, finally, Sabetta, what amazed me, your beautiful cellar that you had built thinking of your piccirilli, large and comfortable with the press surface for crushing grape harvesters, and the capable tanks and fistulas of lead to convey the must in the coolness of the crypt underground.
What good demon, Sabetta, inspired you to repeat, before the discovery, in the millstone of your farm the millstone of the Villa dei Misteri?…
(A.Maiuri, The last heir of the Villa dei Misteri)