30 minutes

Ornetu

Each hamlet in Pietracorbara still has its ovens, but the hamlet of Ornetu has the most (six intact ovens - four of which are outside - remain of the seventeen ovens counted in 1925) and the best preserved; two ovens have even been restored and can be visited.

Go to the main square of Ornetu (several vehicles park here). The tower is opposite. Turn left and climb the stairs leading up. The first oven lies next to the fountain and seems to be brand new. It has been entirely restored by Petra Viva (Summer 2009). It is called the fornu vivu (the living oven).

Compared to other ovens, its dimensions are rather small (60 cm for its mouth and a 162 cm inner diameter). This makes it easy to heat up, that is probably the reason why it was the last to remain functional: bread was cooked up in it until 1926, once a week, on Saturdays.

After 1926 and until 1943, this oven was used again for Easter. During World War II, chestnuts were dried in it (in order to make flour) as well as figs, which were thus preserved and eaten for many months. The oven ceased to be used after the war.

Before becoming the Fornu Vivu, this oven was referred to as Mari'Anto's oven, after the person who used it last: Marie-Antoinette Bartolomei (1881-1970). Today, her granddaughter, Françoise Antoni, owns it. She made it « constantly available » for Petra Viva. The association took charge of the complete restoration of the oven, with Raymond Allari, expert in slate roofs, and his team. Traditional materials such as chestnut tree beams and local slate stones (from Brando, Pietracorbara and Orezza) were used, as well as slate stones from abroad: Argentina, China, India, Italy and Uruguay. Damien Antoni, the owner’s second cousin, adorned the chimney in a both traditional and contemporary style. So as to emphasize the openness to other regions, already stated by the presence of slate stones from several nations, he laid five stones from five parts of the world (with a preference for islands) on the east side of the chimney: a lava stone from Etna (Sicily) for Europe; a crystalline stone from the Galite archipelago (Tunisia) for Africa; a round stone (Haiti) for America; a pink stone from Coral Bay (Australia) for Oceania. To finish with, Asia is represented by a stone that was brought back from Namtso Lake (China), which lies at an elevation of 4,718 m. The chimney is crested by an oval stone that looks like a loaf of bread cut into slices, just like a shared bread. On the inside, take a look at the oven mouth. Its shape is an oval stretched upwards. The vault, built in firebricks, has not changed since the construction, while the “floor” bricks are modern. The hole in the large stone before the oven base is an “ash funnel”. Ashes are evacuated through this hole down to a bucket placed below the stone. To sweep away the ashes, a broom made out of cistus branches is used, for its leaves capture the fine ash dust. Above the oven mouth, the large flat stone serves as a chimney. It channels the smoke that goes out of the oven mouth to surge into the outer chimney. The base of the building was dug in rock. The generous window with a view on the hamlet (from there, one can see another oven by the side of a house) is also used as a serving hatch (check out the beautiful flat slate stone windowsill). A sumac, whose leaves are red in autumn, grows in front of the oven. Continue the stairs to the very top. Turn right between the two houses, below the dried mud and stone wall. There is an oven which has been entirely renovated ,
it is private so it is not possible to visit it. It is located under the house, in the garden.

The Sinigaglia house also has a working oven but it is located in the kitchen and cannot be visited.

Next, follow the path up to the stairs under the archway. Go down the stairs and take the path that leads off to the left. After about ten minutes walk you will see a small construction which lies in half-ruin and against which is growing a fig tree. It's an oven , but in a very sad state of repair!

Take the path which leaves the hamlet via the north. Walk about 100 meters and then take the sloping entry between the two walls of dried mud and stone on your right. Continue five meters. To the right you will see a restored oven . Note the pierced stone at its base. Its function was to help remove the ashes. Unlike bread ovens, this one was used to dry figs. As honey, fig contains a lot of sugar, and was a dessert much appreciated in the 19th century. In order to preserve this precious fruit until spring, the drying had to be done carefully. Drying figs in an oven allowed to protect them pretty well, and they were then kept in tin cans. 

Continue the path towards the village. When you are opposite the Genoese tower, turn left so as to attain the square which is surrounded by houses. Continue the length of the Campana house on the left. At the end, you will see an apse attached to the end of the house: this is a beautifully worked interior oven . Having an oven integrated to one’s house was a sign of wealth. Families often had to share common ovens which were outside their houses. 

Continue your circuit, passing by the archway that leads back to the main square. Turn left and follow the houses as you head towards the road which leads to Ponticellu. The last oven is attached to the Casabianca house located on the square at the entry to the hamlet. It is now a beautiful restored oven. Take a look at the chimney made of small schist stones. The oven walk is now completed! 

Four 1	Four 2
Four 3 en ruine	Four 4
Four 5	Four 6