Worth the Detour: Pottery Villages
Folk pottery deep in the Alentejo, a Moroccan village with the deepest greens, terra cotta in the Costa Brava, and more
At In Hand, it’s our best practice and holy grail to try to include a side story about traditional craft or design as part of every travel itinerary: a weaving village 45 minutes away from town (with a stop to view ruins on the way); an incredible 5th-generation ceramics workshop on the other side of the island; a speck of a village where there’s a single basket weaver hanging on to the old ways. Sometimes it’s a single shop we’ve been tipped off about, other times it’s an entire village still operating as it has for centuries. While we’ve written about a great many of these in-the-know, out-of-the-way micro-destinations, they are often tucked into an expansive newsletter as a side note—and often not available to our free subscribers. So in an effort to share this info with all our readers—all in one spot—you’ll find a list of our favorite pottery villages to add to your itineraries. These aren’t necessarily meant to be pilgrimages in their own right but they’re all special places worth straying from your path.
POTTERY TOWNS WORTH KNOWING ABOUT
If you’re traveling to Sicily:
The ancient ceramics town of Calgirone is a visual feast of ceramics, built right into the infrastructure: playful ceramic street signs in pastel colors; beautiful tiled stone walls and bridges; and most impressively, a 17th-century, 142-step staircase fronted with hand-painted tiles that cuts through the heart of town. Streets are lined with ceramic shops and working studios selling large round platters covered in lemons, lidded pharmacy jars, amphorae, and most iconically, the fabled jars in the shape of human heads—which you’ll see on balconies all over town, greenery cascading down a few feet. According to one local legend, an impassioned noble girl cut off the head of her Moorish lover in a jealous rage and grew plants in it, watered by her tears; the plants thrived, gaining the attention of the neighbors and inspiring a thousand-year-old tradition of anthropomorphic ceramics. Don’t miss Delfino Ceramiche and the Museo della Ceramica in the Villa Patti house, followed by a stroll through the adjoining public park with ceramic installments like a majolica tile-covered gazebo-like temple, fountains, and walls topped with brightly painted ceramic pots and pinecones.
If you’re traveling to Spain:
In this small inland town in the Costa Brava, where plates and bowls cover shop facades and piles of ceramics are stacked out front, terra cotta is deeply embedded in the culture. Admittedly, La Bisbal d'Empordà is a little tired, but it’s real and not airbrushed for tourists, and new and vintage pieces aren’t priced for tourists. The expansive Terracotta Museum, housed in a former tile factory, provides an intro to the history of terracotta in the region, which runs as deep as the dark red clay. Afterwards, pop into ceramic shops along Carrer de L’Aigüeta, the main thoroughfare in town, including the star, Ceramica Sampere, with its brightly tiled facade and shelves full of amorphous shapes and organic, simply-glazed pieces made in their on-site studio.
If you’re traveling to the Azores:
On the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores, known for its wild paradise of lush landscapes, volcanoes, hot springs, crater lakes and epic coastline, Cerâmica Vieira is a 155-plus-year-old ceramics studio/shop/museum still owned and operated by the same family dating back five generations of potters. The village used to be full of potters, but these days, the main attraction is a single institution (although, villagers still work here and feel an immense pride of place). Every nook and cranny of the sprawling space is open to visitors. An expansive maze of process-specific rooms unfolds into an accidental living museum with longtime throwers and painters heads-down in the vernacular tradition. We visited in the off-season (essentially anytime that’s not summer), and had the solitary run of the place. We loved it so much, we dedicated an entire newsletter to it.
If you’re traveling to Morocco:
About six hours from Marrakesh at the edge of the desert in the Draa River valley in southern Morocco lies Tamagroute, the village responsible for Morocco's distinctive vibrant green pottery. I’ve never visited, but it’s been on my radar since first seeing photos a few years ago of the standard underground set-up: waist-high pits dug out of the dirt-floor workshops, so potters can work at ground level. There are still dozens of family workshops here, but you generally need a guide to take you around (easily arranged beforehand, and right near the entrance to town), and there’s a co-op where you can buy direct after visiting the studios.
If you are traveling to Portugal:
There are a few really special ceramics villages left in the Alentejo, but none quite as comprehensive and intact as Sao Pedro de Corval, known for its main thoroughfare lined with workshops, one right after the other. This means that it can feel a bit more touristy at moments—which is ok, considering it’s keeping this heritage craft town alive. Most of the dozen or so workshops line the main street so it’s easy to pop in and out. Our picks: Olaria Tavares for their line of traditional blue and white tableware; Olaria Cristo for their painted terra cotta and oversized pots; and Olaria Polido e Filho for their one-of-a-kind experimental ceramics. Many of the shops offer glimpses into back studios, where throwers are working away at the wheel.
If you’re traveling to Oaxaca:
When I was in Oaxaca, I made the craft pilgrimage to the weaving village of Teotitlan del Valle but didn’t get to the smaller ceramics village of San Bartolo Coyotepec. A regret! Known for its black clay pottery dating back 2,000 years—pots, plates, figurines, and elaborately detailed decorative items—this Zapotec community is less than a half hour south of Oaxaca. It’s much smaller than Teotitlan del Valle, making it easily navigable on your own or with a guide in an hour or two. Clay is still brought down from the mountains on the backs of burros, and the pottery is fired in underground kilns. In the 70s, the late Zapotec ceramicist Dona Rosa discovered a new technique (polish before firing) that gives the black pottery its iconic shiny finish. Her son continues to run the popular family workshop in town.
If you’re traveling to Puglia:
I’ve been to Puglia a few times, and I cannot get enough of the ceramic district of Grottaglie in the Alto Salento peninsula. There’s something about the heat and arid landscape that lends itself to the colors and texture and feeling of the pottery. Still run by longtime ceramics families (as well as a few contemporary newcomers), the small town is full of shops with exceptional craftsmanship where you can feel the soulful connection to the craft. Back doors are often left open to catch a breeze in the stifling heat of deep summer, and visitors can steal a glimpse of potters in process, not necessarily as a tourist attraction but as a quiet observer passing by. Wheels hum, paint splatters, and pottery is piled willy-nilly in every corner. Nicola Fasano is one of the most well known (Sofia Coppola had her wedding dinnerware made here), stretching back 18 generations, which seems implausible. Beyond the endless shapes and patterns of tableware and amphora, Nicola’s traditional pumi knights / dolls with mustaches are a playful traditional delight.
If you’re traveling to Romania:
We wrote about Romanian pottery a few months back, shortly after the village of Horezu was featured in The New York Times (we have conflicted feelings about what constitutes too much attention when most traditional crafts are considered endangered). Horezu is responsible for beautiful, intricately decorated pieces that are currently enjoying a moment at niche design shops like Cabana and Toast. I’ve talked to friends who have been to this traditional ceramics village, and while it’s more well-known than some of the other pottery studios farther afield, most of the Romanian potters in Horezu still have to raise animals and grow their own vegetables to get by. Even though a handful of fancy shops have shown an interest, it continues to be an authentic Romanian village, where you can visit multiple workshops and buy pieces directly from the artisans who still use locally collected clay and apply the signature swirling patterns with a tool handmade from a cow horn and feather.
If you’re traveling to the Cyclades Islands:
Of all the islands in Greece (too many to count), Sifnos is the one most known for holding onto its traditional ceramics-making past. Clusters of shops can be found in the villages of Appolonia, Kamares, Herronissos, Platis Yialos, and Vathi. But if you’re deeply interested in the process and history, you should consider a trip out to visit Konstantinos Depastas—the oldest potter on the island—located on the north end. Sifnos, also known for its delicious food (I know, I know, all of Greece — but specifically here), offers a special treat for ceramics lovers: you’ll see beautiful locally made ceramics at even the most simple, unpretentious of trattorias. There’s a deep sense of respect for the island’s history and and pottery production.
To read the rest of this post which includes an interview with Heath Ceramics in Japan, a dispatch from a super-niche Portuguese ceramics museum AND five more major museums wholly dedicated to ceramics to put on your radar, explore In Hand.
Written by Lisa Borgnes Giramonti and Meghan McEwen, IN HAND is part travelogue and part travel ethos — exploring the intersection of design, craft and travel; celebrating people, places and objects.