Cascami Seta, panoramic view of the plant

At its peak the Cascame employed over 800 people — around 4% of Vigevano's population at the time — and produced pure-silk yarns destined for an international market.

A self-contained working-class quarter grew up around the factory: two-storey workers' houses (1910), the Maria Bambina chapel (1910), Via Matteotti laid out in 1905, the Romanesque-style church of San Giuseppe (1926), a workers' college with 400 beds between 1920 and 1930.

The first core of workers was transferred in from the company's other plants — Bergamo, Veneto, Friuli, Marche — to instil at the Cascame from the start the 'factory culture' that did not yet exist in Vigevano, a city of shoemakers.

The plant closed in the mid-1980s after a long decline. Most of its buildings still stand: in 2018 the complex was listed among FAI's 'Luoghi del Cuore' as industrial heritage worth protecting.