This was the 1st stop:
The sculpture made out of terracotta across the "highway" definitely got our attention!
The "factory" has been in this guy's family 90 years BUT it is at least 500 years old...
They dig their clay out back!
The clay waiting to be worked with...
This is their current kiln but the owner showed us one that was 500 years old... they only use it for storage...
Here are other shots of their work space:
Wood is used for something here....maybe just heat...
The guy gave us an amazing impromptu tour as they started to come back from the lunch break..
and I saw the people working...press molds...handbuilding/major coils etc...
The 2nd stop(and final since we had 2 children in tow...) was here... where they gave us a tour too...
THIS KILN is the original one still being used for HUGE production... and it is hundreds of years old...
Later in our trip we visited the walled city of Volterra and went to the Etruscan museum....
REALLY AMAZING:
Lastly was the City of San Gimignano recreated in terracotta as life was in 1300!!!!
We learned so very much about the history and the lifestyle and the purpose of various architectural elements...
So much IN FEED!!!! I just hope I retain everything I took in from this trip. It was so great.
