Undoubtedly, the people of Impruneta are very good with terracotta and they have been so for generations.
To be precise, heating up the soil from underneath their feet in kilns, has been a habit here for more than a thousand years and flowerpots from this little village just South of Florence, have conquered the gardens, greenhouses and window sills around the Globe.
Visiting the “Fornaces” of Poggi Ugo, Masini or M.I.T.A.L., not only gives you an idea what else can be made out of the red stuff, it also makes for some more unusuals images from a few days spent in this famous part of Italy.
And if you happen to be on a pilgrimage (which I am not….), you might also take a look at the Basilica of Saint Mary in the center of town, not necessarily for the artefacts, but to get out of the sun in August in the middle of the day…..
But what else is there to make you visit this place and not to venture further to Strada, Greve, Panzano or Castellina on your way to Siena?
This was a question that some clever people of the local arts council asked themselves a short while ago and they came up with a rather clever idea…..
Utilize the eternal appeal of cats !
To find out how they did it, you might like to take a stroll down Via del Desco……
After a few steps you might notice a cat just about to catch a small lizzard climbing up a wall.
Nearby another feline is squeezing its head and front paw through a small hole on the side of another building.
The cat in the window frame is for various reasons unlikely to get hold of the pigeon on the roof – not only is she obese, but the angle is also not great for a leap and……..as with all the cats in this street, her muscles and in fact her whole body is made of terracotta!
However, by now you don’t need to be a vet or a cat lover (like the author) to want to see more, to explore more every day feline tales, to spot another terracotta cat sitting, sleeping or hunting somewhere.
The curious tom at another street corner is just checking out
what his lazy neighbour is doing on a windowsill at the other side of the street.
Two cats are spending a very long time to deciding who is encroaching on the other’s territory.
Another one, balancing on a fountain, is unlikely to move, even if a dog is deciding to quench its thirst from the water pool below.
We will never find out if the sparrow next to the ascending body of Christ will following him very soon into heaven
or if the street cat below the wrought iron fence will eventually get help from its African cousins to catch the dove or might end up as a meal itself…..
If you want to find out, you might like to skip your visit to basilica and head straight for Via del Desco – even if you are on a pilgrimage!
The Blue Vet Diary 