The establishment of an Industrial Heritage Museum represents for the city of Maglie the realisation of a cultural pole in a space that is part of the collective memory of the city itself.
After the cognitive process on the history of the factory and its patrons, a process of capitalisation of the industrial asset was set in motion, aimed at recovery, conservation, restoration and re-functionalisation, allocating the factory to MAI-Museo Archeoindustriale di Terra d'Otranto.
The main objective pursued by the municipal administration was to return to the local community and travellers a 'monument' (declared of cultural interest on 23 July 2003) that is a symbol of industrial Maglie.
On the basis of extensive archival, bibliographic and private/company archive research, work has been carried out to reconstruct and make known the historical memory of the industrial past of the most important agricultural-craft-industrial centre of the 'Capo di Leuca', so much so that Maglie was known as the 'Emporio del Salento Meridionale' (Emporium of Southern Salento) thanks to the presence of skilled artisans, wealthy landowners, and far-sighted 'captains of enterprise' who, with their industrial enterprises in the agrifood and manufacturing fields, made the town of Maglie famous throughout Italy and abroad.
The project idea was to create an active place, a container of events, educational paths, aggregation and socio-cultural animation.
Two funds were granted to realise the Museum: the first was granted in 2006 by the Ministry of Economy and Budget; the second by the Apulia Region, in 2014, as part of the "APQ - Framework Programme Agreement" Sector Urban Areas and Cities, "City-Countryside Pact".
