Ledro Lime oven

Ledro Lime oven (calchere) : lime is a material that is used in various sectors, to plaster, to disinfect, etc. and is obtained from the cooking of some calcareous rocks; to do so, the calchere were used, ovens built for this purpose.

Ledro Lime oven here in Valle di Ledro there are also some tens because, depending on the materials used for the construction, the Ledro Lime oven had a certain duration of use before having to be rebuilt or abandoned. The place of construction of the calchera was chosen taking into account some factors: the proximity of large quantities of rocks suitable for cooking, rocks suitable for construction, ease of access with wagons and the availability of large quantities of wood. Their structure has a circular plan with a diameter ranging from three to five meters and a height between four and six meters with conical conical section, generally they were made in embankments for simplicity of construction and for convenience in accessing the mouth top of the building; in the lower part a face was made by fitting the rocks and blocking them in the upper part with a keystone, under which the firewood was then placed. Once the construction was done, the cooking stones were prepared and a large quantity of firewood gathered in bundles; when everything was ready the “calcherot” placed the rocks inside the building starting with the larger stones that were placed near the flame, at the end was placed the wood and once lit the fire was fed continuously for about four days, over the cooking was left to cool for another two days, at the end the lime was ready to be sold directly on the spot.