The Castelli majolica
Useful information

At 17 kms from the S. Gabriele exit on the Teramo - L'Aquila motorway, Castelli has easy access to the coast (45 minutes by car), and to Rome (a drive of about two hours on the motorway). Its position, at an altitude of 500 metres, under the picturesque barrier of the Monte Camicia, makes it a good starting point to cross over and ascend the woodland-covered eastern face of the Gran Sasso group of mountains in the new National Park.
The mother church must be visited, where a 13th century wooden polychrome, the majolic altar-piece by Francesco Grue (1647), and a medieval silver cross of the Sulmona school have been preserved. In August, a large market exhibition of current ceramic production is set up but it is possible to wander around the streets of the town anytime of the year and come across numerous craft shops and stores. Prices vary greatly depending on the type and decoration, the choice ranging from simple rustic-like crockery with the typical "floracci", to the most refined imitations of antique collections maybe even decorated in pure gold. Monogrammed dinner-services can also be ordered or particular objects commissioned and decorated to one's own personal taste, thus making the most of the workmanship of the craftsman. Among the road out of the town and down into the valley one comes across the factories which produce mainly for markets abroad.
The "Istituto Statale d'Arte Ceramica" (the State Institute for Ceramic Art), is based in Castelli This school specializes in this art and its production techniques (tel.: 0861/979126-979221). For more detailed information on ceramic production one can contact the "Consorzio del Centre Ceramico Castellano" (the Consortium for the Castelli Ceramic Centre) to which all the ceramists of the area belong (tel.: 0861/979121). For information on guided excursions and trekking on the east face of the Gran Sasso one should contact the Bar "Grue" where members of the local C.A.I. (Italian Alpine Club), meet (tel.: 0861/979111). Guided tours of the Ceramics Museum can be made by phoning the Museum directly on 0861/979398 or the Town Hall on 0861/979142-979225 where further general information can be obtained.

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