 Re: Smooth or Rough Domes?
I have seen quite a few rough domes in the countryside here. The way it was explained to me, the local farmers were not very well off (contadini), and they made and grew just about everything they had and ate -- which included the ovens. Rather than use bricks, which had to be bought, many of the ovens are made from local rock. The domes are very rough, and it looks as though the builders hand selected the best stones for the cooking floor. Still, they are pretty wild.
It has always sounded like a pretty tough life -- so much so that many of those families either moved into the cities to take factory jobs, or only had one child -- where the family would give everything they had to help him find a better life. The house we are renting was sold for next to nothing in the late 1940's, when the owners moved into Florence. The property has four houses and over 100 acres -- not a bad deal for the family that bought it.
Wait a minute, this was suppose to be about ovens. Sorry about that.
James |