Tastings of ceramics

Traveling is not just about moving from one place to another and seeing as many things as possible. Traveling can be a great opportunity to enrich your experience made of flavors, smells, sounds and tactile sensations to take with you.

We will tell you about the legend of the Teste di Moro, a story of love, jealousy and revenge in Sicily in the year 1000 during the Arab domination, and I brought you to try the enamelling and decoration of this mysterious object.

You will discover the traditional pigne, symbol of life force that carry a message of luck and prosperity.

And finally you will take a trip to our laboratory experimenting with alternative languages ?€??€?to tradition, here creations in hand-molded ceramic or on the lathe take shape.

A space open to anyone, children or adults who want to be surprised by the potential of clay.

In addition to the experience of the laboratory, we also offer a mini tour of the historic center (with or without final tasting) in collaboration with the local Pro Loco entitled: “Cultural journey to discover the walled city and its” Casbah “where smells, knowledge and flavors mingle with the multiethnic identity of its places. ”

The itinerary includes a visit to the historic center commonly called “Casbah”, because it preserves the ancient road layout of Islamic origin and the Jewish quarter where 7 majolica panels are placed which tell the story of those places in an original and unusual way.

Itinerary A (without tasting)

DURATION 2 hours approximately

Itinerary B

DURATION 3 hours

The duration of the experience if it also includes the ceramic laboratory varies from 4 to 5 hours.

The tradition of ceramics has its roots in the distant past, and is one of the most ancient human arts. The discovery of mixing clays with water and cooking them seems to have occurred in the east between the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 5th millennium BC. Also in Sicily it appears for the first time in the Neolithic period, manifesting itself mainly with everyday objects.

Sicily, due to its geographical position, has always been the object of conquest by numerous civilizations, but despite this, Sicilian potters have always highlighted their “Sicilianity” in the art of ceramics. In addition to men, the island is crossed by stories and legends that bring man closer to the beauty of nature. And if you were born here, this beauty will carry it inside whatever you do.

The first were the Greeks who refined the technique, then the clay working resumed during the Arab conquest of 827. In fact, it was the Arabs who introduced leaded glazing in Sicily that made it possible to waterproof objects.

The city of Caltagirone occupies a particular place in the history of ceramics mainly between the 17th and 18th centuries, followed by several ceramic schools (with different characteristics from each other) mainly in the cities of Santo Stefano di Camastra and Sciacca.

The noble art of ceramics has appreciated interpreters in Sicily not only in the cities mentioned above but also in Mazara del Vallo. And it is right here in Mazara del Vallo that the laboratory carries out its activity in the ancient district of San Giovanni.