cast the first stone

Ok, so this blog is supposed to be about craft (with a smattering of music thrown in). As a result, I am going to have to stretch the common definition of "craft" in order to post about this here. Well, it's not so much of a stretch, really, if you go by my personal defition (which is quite expansive) - or, more simply, this definition: "an occupation or trade requiring manual dexterity or skilled artistry".

Because I would say that building an entire city out of a bunch of caves requires a certain amount of "manual dexterity or skilled artistry". Actually, probably quite a bit of both.

Read this BBC article about the amazing city of Matera, Italy. In the part of town called Sassi ("stones" in Italian), "some dwellings are little more than caves with a door on the front [and] others have elaborate fronts, hiding the cave quarters behind". In the 1950's the people were evicted cause the caves were turning into slums. But now, Sassi's coming back to life, with tourism and high-tech realizing that caves are pretty darn fantastic to live (or work) in after all.