Where:
5 minutes walk from the village of Calcata is the garden and open-air workshop with a potter's wheel and a wood-fired kiln for terracotta. The space can hold up to 200 people for parties and other events, but on this occasion it will host 10/15 participants in the course.

CALCATA.
A little village perched atop volcanic tufa cliffs in the middle of the Valle del Treja, the river that has carved green canyons into the countryside north of Rome.
Calcata has almost three thousand years of history, and traces of human presence date from prehistoric times. In one of the cliffs facing Calcata you can still see signs of the Faliscan and Etruscan civilisations, relics of which can be admired in the Villa Giulia Museum in Rome.

Between the end of the 8th Century and the beginning of the 7th Century B.C. artifacts of reddish clay similar to bucchero, predominate, with ornate mouldings, incisions and reliefs: the large holmoi, used for mixing wine, and the kantharoi.
During the following centuries other styles such as the eastern Protocorinthian and Corinthian styles emerge. The influx of Attic terracotta, offering itself as a model of formal perfection, had a decided influence on the local school. The development of Faliscan ceramics has been attributed by some scholars to the immigration of Greek artists to Falerii Veteres following the Pelopnesian War. The products which emerge from the Faliscan workshops (hydriai, kylikes, oinochoai, stamnoi, skyphoi, aiyballoi, bell-shaped or column-shaped crateri) are of high-quality workmanship, for example the stamnos of the Painter of Diespater, the oinochoe with the Amazzonomachia and the Death of Atteone, the cratere depicting Kephalos kidnapped by Aurora.

The tufa houses of old Calcata filled with artists and intellectuals who restored it bringing new light to the village. Old vegetable patches became gardens, natural art galleries or open-air workshops.
Around the edges of the villages there are splendid views over the valley offering perfect locations for meditation as well as spectacular sunsets and sometimes, on moonlit summer nights, musical gatherings.

What to do in your free time:
Visit Calcata which offers art galleries, craft workshops, shops, six restaurants, a vegetarian club, a very well stocked tea rooms and several Bed & Breakfasts.
You can go for gentle walks in the woods or follow trekking paths along the Via Narcese to Civita Castellana, 15km away.
You can visit the Monte Gelato waterfalls 5 Km away.
You can tour the numerous medieval villages in the surrounding area.
20 minutes away by car there are two lakes, both beautiful and with facilities such as sailing, wind surfing and pedal boats.
To discover more about the area try Internet searches on "faliscan", "etruscan", "Bracciano", "Civita Castellana", or visit the website www.calcata.net unfortunatly available only in Italian but full of interesting photos and links.