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# 72 •nOvemBER 16 , 2015
of Ceramic Art at the beginning of the twentieth
century played a decisive role in the recovery of
ceramic craft production,
with a revival of artistic
and economic activities.
ment of production steps
involving the preparation
of the clay, colours and
glazes, which were now
available on the market in
a ready-to-use form, and
of the glorious wood-fired
breathing kiln, invented in
Modern Production
Castelli, which was replaIn 1964, when craft pro- ced with electric or gas
duction in Castelli was kilns of various sizes.
experiencing one of its
most difficult periods, the In addition, quality traiCastalli Ceramics Centre ning was also provided
was formed for the pur- for the new generations,
pose of providing tech- allowing the tradition to
nical, artistic and com- remain alive and keep
mercial assistance to craft step with developments
businesses. The Centre in style, ensuring the inestablished a “Craft Villa- troduction of innovative
ge” in the early 1970s.This products. These initiatives
led to a complete transfor- are still providing a posimation of the productive tive response to the deset up, with the transfer to mands of domestic and
the “Village” of almost all international markets and
the old shops in the histo- attracting an ever-increaric centre, which were up- sing flow of tourists.
graded with the creation
of rational work spaces The local area
and provided with advan- Castelli is a small town of
ced equipment, often de- about 1,500 inhabitants,
signed and built with the located five hundred meparticipation of local craft- tres above sea level and fismen.
fty kilometres from the sea,
inside the Gran Sasso and
This substantial organisa- Monti della Laga National
tional innovation was ac- Park. Its name is due to
companied by a profound its appearance to approtechnological transforma- aching visitors: a handful
tion, with the abandon- of houses perched at the
top of a rocky spur about
a hundred metres above
the confluence of the Rio
and Leomogna streams.
It is a genuine “castle”,
inaccessible on three sides and with the portion
attached to the mountain
occupying an ideal defensive position. It is the
centre of a mighty amphitheatre of mountains
set apart from the peaks
of the Gran Sasso, with a
landscape of hills gently
descending towards the
sea as a backdrop. The
town is dominated by the
rocky walls of Monte Camicia, which plummet almost a thousand metres
to the Fondo della Salsa,
Europe’s lowest perennial
snowfield.
Castelli is the smallest of
Italy’s thirty-six historic ceramic centres, which are
recognised and protected
by a special law. It has survived for five centuries
exclusively through majolica and was renowned for
its work from the sixteenth
to the nineteenth century,
which was at the pinnacle
of global production.
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