“The Zulian family has been involved in kilns for four generations and perhaps even longer, according to some maps from the 1700s which cite a “furnace” belonging to the old Zulians, near the river Brenta in the locality “Fornace”.
The first reliable recordings date back to 1896, when the kilnman Carlo Zulian and his brother Prosdocimo (stoker), built a new furnace for baking Brenta lime in Via Roma (now Via Velo).
It was a small production furnace (8oo kg of lime per day) and consisted of a structure with a 6-metre high oven, with an adjacent outhouse for storing materials.
In 1896 the brothers expanded the business, adding a second oven. The facilities were expanded again in 1958 when the furnace was raised and three new warehouses were built: one for wood, one for the processing and transformation of fine mortar (for plaster) and one to supply the furnaces.
In 1998 Fornaci Zulian received the “50° UPA Cittadella” prize, awarded to the oldest company in Fontaniva in terms of tradition and continuity.
