Grottaglie

We had thunderstorms and heavy rain overnight but woke up to broken skies so headed to the car to get in our sightseeing before the predicted rains came this afternoon.  Grottaglie is not high on the tourist list around this area but we heard it was well known for ceramics and for its caves so off we went.  We started in the town of Grottaglie and have to say it was the first town we have seen that shows signs of being derelict.  The residential streets were run down and clearly tourism is not a mainstay YET!

Most of the towns, large and small, that we have visited in this area have a historical centre.  In the centre there is usually a section of residential housing.  Most of the residential areas we have seen are very beautiful with plants and flowers decorating narrow, winding, cobblestone roads.  Grottaglie was nothing like this.  As we wandered up this residential section we felt like we were imposing ourselves into peoples' lives and we quickly turned back down towards the business/historical area.  

Most of the town, including the historical centre, looked derelict.  The buildings were not whitewashed and there were very few tourists in the area (we saw four others).  As we wandered though, something about this town grew on me.  These were day to day people and the town was for them, not for visitors.  We were pointed to the ceramic district by the parking lot attendant (who asked us for two euros.  Even though we weren't sure he even worked there, we gave him the two euros).  The ceramic district was filled with shops and all were filled with a variety of styles, shapes and prices.  It became clear that there was an artists' community alive and well in Grottaglie.

The tiles on the stairs and the random art work, mixed with plants in unusual places created a different feel in spite of the run down buildings.  Of course there was much graffiti as well.

We popped into a few ceramic shops on our way up the hill (always a hill!) and most of them were very ornate and quite abstract.  We had heard some of the shops had been built into caves that peopled resided in in the 16th century and came across this beautiful shop built right into the hillside. This was the only high end shop we saw in the town but it so amazing we stood and took it all in.

The shop below was a working shop as were many others and there was definitely a "Granville Island" feel along this row of shops.  You could smell the ceramic baking as you walked by.

We left the ceramic area and headed up the hill to the old castle but there was not much to see.  A small section of it was roped off to view from outside the rope as the rest was not in any condition to wander through.

I really enjoyed our walk through this old run down town.  I feel like most of the towns and cities we have seen in Italy have been the shining jewels.  This town felt like the bedrock to me.  I loved the artist community, the graffiti and the lack of pristine, white-washed alleyways.  There were no designer shops, no restaurants on the piazza and no gift shops other than the ceramic area.  It will be interesting to see where Grottaglie heads in the future.  I always find that areas where artists are doing their work are areas that tend to grow and prosper.  Grottaglie could use some prospering but I hope it comes slowly and not at the cost of the artists who work there!

Ciao!