La Carcàra dë zië Torë · Ostuni
An ancient lime kiln of the White City
The whiteness of Ostuni is no gift of nature: it is born of fire, sweat and stone.
Everyone knows Ostuni as the «White City». But that dazzling whiteness is the fruit of an ancient alchemy of fire, sweat and stone: it was in the belly of the great cylindrical towers called «calcare» — the lime kilns — that quicklime was born.
The lime kiln
What a lime kiln is, how it turned stone into lime, and how it was restored.
Uses of lime
From whitewashing houses to farming and hygiene: lime in everyday life.
The trades of lime
Quarrymen, lime-burners and whitewashers: the hands and knowledge that fed the kiln.
Ostuni shines with its own light
«Cycle after cycle, toil after toil: it is thanks to the fire of these men that, even today, Ostuni shines with its own light.»