Centro de Interpretación - Las Loceras
A centre devoted to traditional Gomeran pottery, right in the middle of the village of El Cercado, in the Chipude area. On La Gomera the ware is still made as it was centuries ago, by hand and without a wheel, and that is precisely the craft explained here. The tour covers every stage, from gathering the raw clay to firing in wood burning kilns, using interactive panels, pieces at different stages and explanatory videos.
Wheel free pottery is one of La Gomera's defining crafts, and El Cercado is the village where it has carried on most continuously. The loceras work the clay with their hands, building each piece up on a base and then smoothing it with river stones, using no tools beyond the traditional ones. The result is casseroles, roasting pans and vessels with an uneven surface and reddish colour, quite unlike thrown ceramics.
The centre sets that process out clearly: where the clay is dug, how it is prepared, how it is shaped, how it is decorated with red ochre and how it is fired. The pieces shown at intermediate stages make visible what a case of finished products never shows. The village also keeps working workshops, so the visit can be rounded off by walking through El Cercado. Inside the room, avoid flash photography and move your bag carefully between the display cases.
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