"Franco Franchini" Park Authority Offices in Rio nell'Elba

The offices of the Park Authorities, in the ancient washhouses, are near the old part of Rio nell'Elba at Loc. I Canali, and they cover an area of approximately 65 square metres.

They are considered a valid reference and meeting point of the Park Authorities, and the main interest are the characteristics of the eastern side of Elba. above all those of the mining traditions.

The building is divided into two parts, the first that is simply a way of welcoming visitors who can immediately look through the leaflets of the National Park, full of useful information, and the second where there is a large, round area where visitors can watch films and videos about the Park and where visitors have the use of two computers with interactive programmes installed about the nearby Mulini Valley.

Not only that, there is also a table with minerals on show, where you can see the characteristics of the major minerals to be found on the Island of Elba and that over the past generations were extracted by the miners.

The modern washhouses (1907) are outside the Park Offices, and here the water from the spring just outside the town gushes down and flows into the long, concrete wash tubs then purs out into the ditch which was the original Valle dei Mulini.

In 2009 the Offices of the Park Authorities in Rio nell'Elba were given the name of Franco Franchini who died very suddenly on May 9th 2008. He was a very worthy man who had dedicated his entire political and working life to the creation of the Park.