Caltagirone

Italy is full of amazing things to see. As we were already in the area, near Piazza Armerina, we decided to talk a short drive over to Caltagirone to see the famous tiled steps. Being 7 months pregnant, I had no intention of climbing all the steps, (145 long giant steps to be exact), but we wanted to explore some of the pottery shops in the town and perhaps have a snack. (Gelato in brioche is my newest favorite treat.)

The town was quaint and it was obvious that pottery and tile were their specialties. Instead of the usual marble street and building markers, the signs in this town were made of thick ceramic tile. There were tile decorations on doors, alleyways, in cafés, almost everywhere you turned, there were hand painted tiles to be admired. The prominent colors in the tile pieces here were a celestial blue and a buttercup yellow as opposed to some of the pottery pieces I’ve seen in Deruta and other parts of Tuscany in which the prominent colors are also blue and yellow but the blue being much richer and darker and the yellow almost edging on orange.

*Note: There were a few tourists here and there but the town was readily accessible by car, even though the streets are narrow; The Steps themselves were not crowded at all.


Street signs and markers were wonderfully elaborate.


There were tiles everywhere, in cafes and this one is especially beautiful located in the Piazza del Municipio.



More tiles from this cafe/tiny museum of ceramic art.


I loved the sign post that mark the location of the Stairs.


There are 145 steps but it looks as if there are more because the steps themselves are very long and shallow. I made it up about 25 before I gave up.


A closer look at the Steps' designs.


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