Grottaglie's ceramics district reopens with more than 50 craft stores

After seven months of being closed to the public, the ceramic district of Grottaglie (Taranto) reopens with more than fifty craft workshops. An entire neighborhood of expert potters who, by carving workshops and kilns out of the rock of hypogean environments also used in the past as oil mills, have developed a thriving craftsmanship now recognized worldwide.

Some workshops still preserve lathes and kilns inside them, and in each workshop it is possible to observe the different stages of working the objects, according to the tradition born in the Middle Ages.

In addition to plates, bowls, cups, and vessels of various shapes, there are chanterelles, typical of Grottaglie,"pumi," which can be seen displayed on the windowsills of Salento houses and are considered a good omen (but only if given or received as a gift), and the"pupa baffuta," a character born of a legend: a vintner, in order to evade his young wife from the tradition of ius primae noctis, disguised himself as a woman to present himself to the feudal lord instead of the girl. However, he forgot to trim his mustache and was soon discovered. The feudal lord laughed at this, but asked, to spare his life, that he bring him all the wine produced from his vineyards in amphorae that had his features disguised. He, with the help of the town’s artisans, brought it to him: in amphorae in the shape of a mustachioed pupa.

Grottaglie is the only pottery town with a district entirely dedicated to the production of this type of craftsmanship.

Not far from the district, the Museum of Ceramics also reopens, whose permanent exhibition constitutes the most important museum in Puglia on the subject of ceramic art. Divided into five sections, the museum displays 517 pieces ranging from traditional pottery in use to majolica and contemporary objects. Coming from public and private collections, the artifacts tell the story of a time when ceramics played a key role in everyday life. In addition to the traditional pottery of use and the majolica section, there is a section dedicated to nativity scenes, an archaeological section and a contemporary section.

Pictured is a pair of majolica pupae.

Grottaglie's ceramics district reopens with more than 50 craft stores

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