caravella ceramics

While exploring Burgio, I expressed interest in purchasing some pottery souvenirs.  (Spoiler alert: I will buy pottery, we will be given pottery as gifts, and we will then have an interesting packing feat as we distribute 30 pounds of pottery and 20 pounds of goat cheese amongst our baggage, all while managing to stay under our weight limits for EasyJet.)  As I mentioned before, Burgio is famous for its ceramics.  They are handcrafted in a rustic style from the 16th century and painted in the traditional colors: yellows, greens, blues, and browns.  Examples of their pottery are all over town, in the form of painted tiles stating street names, museum names, hours of operation at businesses, etc.  Marisa, the cousin we were with, heard my pottery request and zipped us off to Caravella Ceramics.  I was expecting a small gift shop; I never dreamed we'd be walking into an actual workshop that was functioning during our visit.

This must be the place.

As posted on their sign, Caravella has been making artisanal ceramics since 1857.  When we entered the cave-like workshop, we were greeted by a man I understood to be the owner, and one of his employees, who was busily glazing vases.  The workshop had a stone floor and walls; natural light poured in through the open front door and a skylight in the ceiling.

Ready to be fired.

The owner took us on a tour, showing us the room-sized kilns and the shelves upon shelves of pottery just waiting to be selected for a new home in the U.S.  Vases, planters, decorative tiles, mugs, cups, plates, bowls, colanders (scolapasta - love that word), water jugs, and even a nativity set were amongst the offerings.  After much debate and a serious discussion about what we could realistically carry home with us, we settled on a water jug, two colanders, and numerous small plates.  My husband had told me his cousin was a good haggler, but I was still pleasantly surprised when she argued twenty euros off our total bill.  Naturally, this was a cash-only transaction.

Check out more photos of their beautiful wares: