The Norante Barn was opened on April 10th 1862 and is located in the centre of Campomarino, near via Roma. Besides being an example of pompous architecture, the building is a symbol of the agricultural heritage of this region.
After the Italian Unification, this was the place where bread was packed or cooked. Owning an oven marked a basic difference between social classes. The society was divided among who could and who could not cook the bread at home. Most of the families were peasant: women went to the baker with a wood plank on their heads, where they put the packed breads ready to be cooked. Buying bread from others was considered a sign of disorderliness and family disorganization. The wheat production was, at that time, an alternative to husbandry, especially after the 1764 famine. The wealthiest family of Campomarino, the Norantes, were interested in this business.
The Norante family built the barn with no care of the amount of money, as it was their lord palace, embellishing it with bosses, gates and angles made of hand-chiseled stone, bricks. The sum allocated for its construction was over 10,000 ducats, and even the interior parts were expensive. This is evidenced by the quality of the materials used and the use of qualify foreign manpower. The large roof rests on robust wooden trusses. Eight mighty pillars support the vaults underlying rooms, made of solid bricks. Six openings in the floor allowed the grain to enter in the vast underlying spaces. The holes, in turn, had covered by wooden lids opened by iron handles. In the warehouse, Norante made a channel for unclean waters. The beautiful entrance doors are made of chestnut tree wood.