From the Kiln to Montoderi

Let's start from the former kiln of Villa Collegalli where my mother's father used to hunt pheasants while she (Stella) stayed near the farmhouse to play with shells, fossils found by the millions throughout the territory that was once submerged by the sea.

Next to the kiln, there is a cemetery, well-kept, small and enclosed where no new burials will take place but in which we found names familiar to us: my grandparents and their grandparents are here. Among them, we recognize the clean tombstone of Mr. Vittorio, my father's grandfather who unfortunately could not live to see the wonderful post-war future. Eight days after the liberation of the San Miniato territory occupied by the Germans, Vittorio stumbled (?) on a mine, was carried (on foot) to the nearest hospital (Volterra!) where he died days later. His wife --- used to walk the path from Collegalli to Volterra to visit him in those terrible first days of peace.