We are always triving to find new locations for our guests to enjoy and explore, whilst they are on their holiday with us in Puglia. The town of Grottaglie (about 50 minutes drive from any of our Villas) is the location of the famous “Ceramic Quarter” where the well-renowned Grottaglie pottery is produced.
The Puglian town of Grottaglie is rightly famous for its pottery where large numbers of family run workshops thrive.
The pottery workshops range in size from just a couple of operatives, to businesses employing up to twenty people on location. Nearly all of them are family-run and they design, produce and sell their traditional craftwares directly to the public.
Each family workshop has evolved its own individuality and their own artwork is easily and instantly recognisable from that produced by a neighbouring and rival workshop.
Strolling through the narrow streets and laneways of the “Ceramic Quarter” one encounters workshops tucked away beside one another. Generally all the workshops display selections of the Grottaglie pottery available for sale by the doorway and/or in small viewing rooms inside.
It is possible to enter each worshop, and you are encouraged to view the whole process from preparing the clay, right through the spinning, shaping, inscribing and kiln-firing. Then the hand painting and glazing procedures that give each piece its unique appearance. Asking questions will ellicit explanations of the process from the artisans at each stage of production.
Grottaglie pottery is all hand produced therefore no two pieces are ever exactly alike. Some of the more distinct designs, such as the amazing overhead and wall light fixtures, are usually made to order from a request by a specific customer.
The oldest established family workshop that we visited and toured, started production in 1620 and it has since been handed down the family through the subsequent centuries.
A photo gallery of our visit to Grottaglie can be seen on our facebook page here Place in Puglia Villas