El Carmen de Viboral

Ceramic production started here in 1898 using local clay deposits, and by the mid twentieth century the town supplied a large share of Colombia's tableware. The distinguishing feature is that the decoration is painted by hand rather than transferred - each piece is brushed with the floral and geometric patterns individually, which means no two are the same and the work is slow. Industrial competition damaged the trade badly from the 1970s, and what survives is a smaller number of workshops that have moved towards craft rather than volume, with several open to visitors. The town has painted the ceramic patterns onto the paving and walls of the Calle de la Ceramica, so the street itself carries the designs. Ceramics have a protected denomination of origin.

Background

The town dates from April 11, 1714, and became a municipality in 1814. It belongs to the Eastern Antioquia subregion, 54 kilometres from Medellín, at 2150 m, and its municipal area of 423.6 square kilometres borders Cocorná, Sonsón, Abejorral, La Unión, La Ceja, Rionegro and Marinilla. The ceramics trade goes back to 1898, when Eliseo Pareja set up his first ceramics business in the town. The Jorge Eliécer Gaitán National Ceramics School opened here in 1945 to train people in the craft, and a Ceramics Museum followed in 2012. The University of Antioquia opened a regional campus in the town in 2003. The 2020 population estimate was 62,581.

Source: Wikipedia, "El Carmen de Viboral"

What you'll find

• Hand-painted decoration - brushed individually, never transferred.
• Workshops open to visitors - throwing, glazing and painting.
• A street painted with the patterns - the Calle de la Ceramica.
• A protected denomination of origin - registered for the ceramics.

When to go

Year round. Half a day.

Before you go

Workshops are working businesses with their own hours. Much of the cheap ware sold locally is not hand-painted - ask. The town is otherwise ordinary. Weekends bring visitors from Medellin.

Nearby

Rionegro is west; Guatape is north-east.

Key facts