mail: Bill Thayer

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Deruta (Perugia province)

A town of central Umbria: 42°56.9N, 12°25E. Altitude: 218 m. Population in 2003: 8200.

A view of the town, in majolica of course, over one of its doors.

Deruta, 19 km south of Perugia (its nearer neighbors are Torgiano and Marsciano) is famous for one thing: its pottery. Now those of you who are familiar with the rest of my site probably realize that I'm one of those awful people who feel that if (other) tourists like it, it can't be worth looking at, especially such things as pottery and trinkets. The ceramics of Deruta, however, found thruout Umbria, prove me wrong: a real and honest tradition is still very much alive, encouraged by a government-sponsored ceramics laboratory and training school, and most of its products are very attractive; so that, although you'll see my disclaimer below about particular merchants, I can warmly recommend the production as a whole.

Since ceramics is not a field I know anything about, you can start with this brief historical survey at UmbriaTourism.

If you are more generally interested in Umbrian ceramics, the three other important centers — none as important as Deruta, however — are Gubbio, Orvieto, and Gualdo Tadino.

Now that we've got that out of the way, the town, especially its upper part, is attractively medieval, with bits of ancient walls and the 14c church of S. Francesco, whose bell was cast and first rung in 1228 to celebrate the canonization of St. Francis: it also has a good rose window and a nice ensemble of frescoes of the Umbrian and Sienese schools.

But in Deruta you can't stray too far from the potter's art. The major cultural attraction here remains the world-famous Museo della Ceramica: some of the pieces go back to the late Middle Ages. 2 km away, the 17c church of the Madonna del Bagno, the interior walls of which are covered with hundreds of majolica votive offerings spanning several centuries.

When I finally went to Deruta, I was pleasantly surprised. I've now visited twice, if briefly each time, and walked a fair amount of the surrounding area. A proper website will eventually appear here then; for now, just:

[ 7/6/23: 4 churches, 2 pages, 4 photos ] A sampling of the churches of Deruta: not much more than bare photographs for now. Stay tuned, however — or in a pinch, e‑mail me of course.

A proper website will therefore eventually appear here; but in the meanwhile, you might find it useful to read the brief paragraph in the July 28, 2000 entry of my diary, with two more photos, and the entry for March 4, 2004, for a different perspective; for further, much more ample information see the websites linked in the navigation bar at the bottom of this page.

Frazioni

Like most of the comuni in Italy, Deruta includes in its territory some smaller towns and hamlets, of a few hundred inhabitants if that, with a certain administrative identity of their own: as elsewhere in Italy, these are referred to as the frazioni of the comune (singular: frazione, literally a "fraction"): a complete list of them follows. I've only been to Pontenuovo, and just walking thru the place very briefly: any other links will be offsite.

Castelleone • Casalina • Ripabianca • Pontenuovo di Deruta • S. Nicolò di Celle • Sant' Angelo di Celle

Images with borders lead to more information. The thicker the border, the more information. (Details here.)
UP TO:		Umbria	Italy	Home
OFF SITE:		Official Site	Pro Deruta	Museo della Ceramica
		The commercial resources listed below are for information only, not by way of recommendation; they are in alphabetical order, except for the first, which is not a manufacturer, but a school. I have no direct or indirect financial interest in them, nor does this list pretend to be comprehensive. To the best of my knowledge, however, those indicated in italics are all actually based in Deruta; [any others] are resellers.
		Deruta School of Ceramics	Antica Deruta	Fratelli Mari
		Geribi.com	Gialletti Giulio	Maioliche Originali Deruta
		Sambuco	Sberna	[thatsArte.com]	Ubaldo Grazia
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