Pessinetto is on the slopes of mount Orasco, on the Stura left bank.
The name probably originates from “piscina”, rich stream fishing pool. The first official document mentioning Pessinetto is the allocation act of the territory to some valley inhabitants by the Guglielmo VII Marquise of Monferrato, at the time Lord of Lanzo, provided they would build a melting forge. The hamlet was therefore named Forno di Pessinetto. In 1437, Ludovico Prince of the Savoy renewed the grant in his father Amedeo’s name and in 1507, Carlo III Duke of Savoy renewed it again. During the XVIIIth century Pessinetto was granted as feud to the titled Craveri of Bra family. When the territories of the Lanzo Marquise were split, the feud passed on to Beltramo of Monasterolo and then to the Francesetti family. The village kept growing due to metallurgy: at first hosting forge and later on side activity workers’ homes. Forging and particularly nails production lasted through centuries. At the end of the XIXth century thirty, five forges were present on Pesinetto’s territory. At the beginning of the XXth century, the industrialization development brought the centennial handcrafting forging activity to an end. In 1896, a new manufacturing activity was born along the Stura stream: the Lanzo Valley’s Cotton Mill. The mill was then closed between the late sixties and early seventies.
