Religious Architecture
The parish church was built starting from 1891 under the direction of the engineer Pietro Brunati and it was opened in November 1893 with the inauguration by the bishop Gaetano Camillo Guindani.[13] The church is the reconstruction of the Marian shrine in Busto Arsizio. The church was dedicated to S.Maria dell'Aiuto and dates back to 1517. The designer is unknown, but some important architects and sculptors, such as Lonati and Tommaso Rodari, worked on it.[13] This church represents the ideal link between the hometown of the Crespi family, Busto Arsizio, and the village, which represented the best expression of the textile industrial sector.[14]
The parish church in Crespi d'Adda has a square plan with a base made up with Adda strain and it ends with a large octagonal dome externally surrounded by a white marble loggia.[14] Inside there are a lot of frescos and canvas directly commissioned by Cristoforo Crespi.[13]
Still today, the church is used by the local population for ordinary religious rites.
The cemetery
The works for the construction of the cemetery started in 1905 commissioned by Cristoforo Crespi and it was ready in November 1908.[13] The cemetery is a monumental construction where the mausoleum, dedicated to the Crespi family, is the main core. In the mausoleum there are the graves of the members of the family.[13]
The castle
The castle in Crespi was built between 1893 and 1894. The castle was the manor house of the family and its style is typical of the Medieval architecture of the XII century. The architect was Ernesto Pirovano.[15]
The manor house was the summer residence of the family.[15]
At the end of 1960, the municipality of Capriate San Gervasio got the property of the building. From 1968 to 1981 it became the secondary school of the village and afterwards a professional institute. In 1977 the building was sold to some private buyers. All these different usages implied some important changes in the architectural structure and in the decorative styles.[15]
Today, the building has been declared real estate of historical interest.[15]
The factory and the houses
The factory started its activity in July 1878 and its production was totally dedicated to the cotton processing and the production of textiles.[16] With Silvio Crespi there was an enlargement of the factory, thanks to the project made by Pietro Brunati, and there was a new inauguration in 1894 at the presence of Queen Margherita. The new productive lines began to work systematically in 1896. This factory was the centre of the village and all the inhabitants worked there. The factory was the working core of the village and the life of the workers depended on the factory production. Every person in the village had his own house and they were all the same, except for the managers, the doctor and the priest who had more luxurious ones. Initially, in the project of Cristoforo Crespi, there was no idea of a hierarchy, but the situation developed because the social environment of the time changed and showed different levels of wealth.[16] Throughout its history, the factory underwent several structural changes in order to adjust to changes in industrial production and manufacturing of textile.[16]
In 1973 Legler, a textile company, bought the factory and started to work until 2003, when the factory closed because of bankruptcy.[17]
