Each "caseda" was built in stone held together by clay (locally available building material) and rooved with tiles (known as "ceramide") which rested on beams known as "cervuni". These country houses appeared to be very poor and without wealth! Only a few of them had plastered walls, at least on the interior, with a false cealing made of cleverly woven canes ("cannizzi"), which were also used as storing space for drying fruit ready for the winter season (sorb apples, grapes, origano, nuts and above all figs). Not only, this was also a favorite venue, if not the kingdom of lots of cute "suricedi" (mice), who terrified many of our young women.

Most of the time the entire construction was reduced to a sole room set up to be convertable for all domestic necessities, therefor, the makeshift toilet was represented by a tent of bush branches and was only used by women. The men preferring to personally provide the manure for their land, would go "arretu a sipala". Within our farming tradition nothing was wasted and everything was recicled; there certainly never used to be the problem of waste elimination which unfortunately plagues our nowaday consumerist society (even if we can today boast better sanitary and hygenic conditions). Life was very frugally spent in these areas and the furniture within the houses was likewise sobre and Franciscan: a bed, a table and a chest.

The chest, ("u casciuni"), was used as a storage place for everything (from clothing and bedding to everyday food suplies); the table, called "tundinu" because of its circular shape, was a small round surface laid upon an intercrossing tripod; sometimes the tablewas a classic one called "buffetta", around which the chairs were set. The bed, which was quite ample because there was only one and it had to hold all the members of the family, was made by up by two iron trestles, "trispita", on which planks of wood were laid, "tavuli du lettu". Upon these a large sack filled with maize-cobs "frusti" was placed (the matress cover had long slits in it which permitted the stuffing to be changed daily). The sheets were woven with broom fibre, and not even very delicately, but our grandmothers would assure us that their frequent use would have a softening effect upon them. Often a "u stipu a muru" would complete the furnishing. This was a niche in the wall containing shelves and often with wooden shutters. Its shape and use was remniscent of the arab Hazana and it was not by chance that, in the areas surrounding Caulonia, this simple cupboard which held the cutlery, pots and pans, was called "gazzana".

Conversely, the collection of "terracotta" objects, which were used for various purposes, was quite rich. There were ceramic pieces which were used for cooking: testu, pignatu, tella; and other pieces used for fetching water from the springs, seeing as the houses lacked fresh running water: cortara, bumbula, limba, cuccuma (naturally each child had his or her own bumbuleda); lastly there were the various vases used for serving and preserves: large plates, suppera, 'nzalatera, salaturi, cugnetti, vacili, manali, and giarretti.

Even in the country houses, the "lavaturu" and the "u zzipeppi"completed the furniture along with the "pitali", the characteristic night vase similar to the sicilian "u cantaru", around thirty centimetres wide and varnished. It was cylindrical with an overturned edge which enabled a comfortable seating. The shapes of all this terracotta ware are interesting and for each object it is possible to trace their origins back to the Greek culture via the Byzantine artisanship and later the Arab-Norman artisanship until today when plastic has become the only material used in mass production separating us, yet again, from our strong links to the past. Even in the remote Calabria there were real "atelliers" concerning the crafting of clay and in the province of Reggio Calabria there were registered creation and production centres along the Tyrrhenian coastline: Seminara, (even today) and two centres along the Ionian coast: Roccella and Gerace (today in the latter place, everything is being done to promote production again).

G. Polimeni wrote of these schools: "In the province of Reggio Calabria there is a decided chromatic difference in production: the "pieces" from Seminara are gaily-coloured even though the colours are limited to different tonalities of green, blue, brown and above all an original orangy-yellow. The Ionian ceramics (Gerace-Roccella), on the other hand, are of a rougher quality and only rarely does it indulge in some light blue and red tonalities, in perfect harmony with the Locresi artistic standards. The reasons for these differences, apart from historical ones, are to be found in the variety of mineral and vegetable components of the territory. More consistent and geologically heterogeneous along the Tyrrhenian coast as opposed to the Ionian coast where the hills are more monotonous and mostly clay". Lastly, in the corner of many of the "casade" was what today is known as a cooking-point: it consisted of a rudimental fireplace sided by a tiny furnace made of two bricks upon which the various pots could be placed.

Sometimes the cooking-point was obtained very simply with a construction adjoining the external wall of the house. The exit of each "caseda" was sealed by a wooden door, which, commonly, was divided into two parts and again horizontally. In this way it was possible to close the bottom parts ("porta i sutta"), leaving the top half ("portedu") open, the whole effect acting as an areation point. This kind of door known as a "mulinara", had its roots in ancient Hebrew houses.
During the 16th century, by order of the Regno di Spagna, all men of Judaic faith, as well as living in ghettos, were also limited in their activity, having to return home at a very early hour. At the time, the people of Israel, renouned for their use of intellect, devised a strategy: the division of doors with horizontal cuts to enable the passage of air even though in a limited area.

Shortly, such a custom spread to many ghettos in southern countries under Spanish dominion. Henceforth the same door used in our historical centre was widespred in the areas of Spiruni-San Biasi, a place of, what we term Judaic tradition, otherwise known as the "judeca" of Castelvetere. Every door was closed with a "serragghju", a sturdy iron bolt which ensured the safety of each house.
Sometimes, to the external locks with keys, another closure system was added on the inside: "u mandali", a small wooden latch which hooked onto a pin.

This was the "caseda" in its simplest form, but our rural localities were also interspersed with other houses with more than one room; sometimes they even had a first floor, "soprana", which was accessed via an external flight of steps in stone or via an internal flight of stairs in wood which reached a trap door known as "u catarràttu". In this latter case the flooring could either be made of wood or of a crude terracotta, which rested on beams sometimes made of "i carusedi" (hollow cylindrical bricks with a hole in the side often used by children as piggy banks). Finally, there were the rural houses of the landowners. These were beautiful country houses, places conceived to spend comfortable holidays and happy hours. They infact represented the condtructions known in other wealthier parts of Italy as "ville-schifanoie", "casalini" or "casini di campagna".

The life led in the "casede" was very simple and humble. Other than breathing healthy air and spending some quiet time, the women would all be caught up in feminine tasks and or by the gathering of fruit or other things destined to bolster the winter supplies.

In the evening the children would meet up in a barn where they would listen to the best tongue-twisters, the best tales and the softest lullabies. It was, however, "u cuctu" which each good grandmother knew how to tell in order to capture everyone's attention. The various "badetti", "i sdraghi", "jufà" and "i suricedi" would fill the heads of the smallest, most assiduous listeners.

A particularly happy evening, destined to stick among the strongest memories of the entire holiday period, was certainly the eve of the Crochi festivity. It always fell on the first Saturday following the 8th of September, the day consecrated to the birth of Maria. During this eve, adults and children would work hard to set up the bonfires ("a luminaria") on the various "arie" (barnyards). Hence, in the evening all became a spectacle of fires. The "aria" of Schiavello, like that of Obili, Popelli, Cufò and Crochi would shine with much light and the sound of crackling wood, the exultant shouts of many children and the sounds and songs of the holiday makers. Along with the eve of the Crochi festivity, began the season of the "luminarie" which, at regular intervals would be repeated on the eve of the festivity of the Madonna del SS. Rosario and during the night of the 7th of December, the eve of the festivity of the Immacolata. This last one waas grandiose and fascinating and was consumed, as it still is today, within the Church of the Carmine's courtyard.

In England and Normandy, the Druids would preside over the sacred fire rites on the June solstice; it was thought that during that night, spirits, goblins and witches would rise from the earth and begin the summer season. Later Christianity made these rites their own and in France called the ceremony "Les des feux de la Saint-Jean". In Germany, even today, the "luminarie" are connected to the Pentecoste festivity and therefor have a symbolic value, (the tounge of fire represents the Holy Spirit descending on the heads of the Apostles).

With the advent of the Baroque period the fire spectacles became became more and more popular. People have always celebrated the birth of a young prince, the arrival of a famous clergyman or the presence of an important man with bonfires and fireworks. Festivities would always be lavished over by a lord as a reason for his subject's collective joy, but soon the activities became structured in such a way that the richest members of society would be entertained with more cultural shows, such as jesting and any form of theatre. The lower and poorer ranges of society would be entertained by more popular celebrations, such as country dances, fireworks and these "luminarie". In the region of Veneto, "luminarie" were assosciated with the Epiphany. Bramble bonfires were lit and the children would dance around them skreeching "brusa la vecia" (burn the old lady). On the same occasion bonfires were lit in Friuli, while on the 17th of January, for the festivity of Sant'Antonio Abate, in Abruzzo, bonfires ("focaracci" or "focaroni") were lit in churchyards and at crossroads. The "focaroni" were built by young beggars and consisted of bundles of twigs and small branches. Bundles of canes were at the heart of the "luminarie" in Puglia and they were known as "farchie". Tuscany, however, will always be considered the main representative for these kinds of rites because, for the festivity of San Giovanni, on the evening of the 24th June, every crossroad would burn with huge piles of wood; in this manner it would seem as if the light of day was kept even after the summer solstice which revealed the kingdom of the night, lengthening, slowly but surely, its duration.