Looking at the old farmhouses of Ischia, with their curved roofs that look like little domes, we wondered how they were built without cement. The answer led us to a tradition that brings together work, music and celebration: 'A vattut' e ll'astreche, the beating of the roof. We tell it to you as we came to know it, through documents, first-hand accounts and the songs that went with it.
What it means
In the Ischia dialect, 'a vattuta is the "beating", the act of striking, while ll'astreche are the lastrici, the roofs of the houses. The expression therefore refers to the final stage of building a roof, when the covering was beaten for a long time to make it compact and waterproof.
It was the last step in building a rural house, and for this reason it also had a symbolic value: closing the roof meant finally giving the family shelter. No wonder it was experienced as a community celebration.
Lapilli, lime and vaults
Before cement arrived, roofs on the island were built as barrel vaults or cross vaults, using the materials the volcanic land offered in abundance. The structure was built on a framework of wooden beams, then covered with a layer of lapilli, the light, porous volcanic stone, mixed with water and lime.
Once spread, this mixture had to be worked for a long time. Only with patient, steady beating would the lapilli and the lime bind together, becoming a sturdy covering able to keep the rain out. Vaulted roofs are still one of the most distinctive features of the rural architecture of Campania's islands and coasts.
How the beating was done
The work usually took about three days and required a large team: around ten beaters for a surface of about 25 square metres. In the first stage the workers, sitting on small stools, levelled the lapilli with the mazzola, a wooden tool. Then the real beating began, with continuous, rhythmic blows.
The secret was precisely the rhythm. To beat evenly, without pauses and without tiring too soon, the team had to move in unison. And this is where singing came in.
The work songs
The beating was accompanied by long chants, with verses often improvised and refrains repeated by everyone, punctuated by vocalisations that marked the timing of the blows. Singing made it possible to coordinate the work and ease the fatigue.
Precisely because they were largely improvised, the verses changed from one building site to another and from one singer to another. These songs belong to the great heritage of work songs of southern Italy, those that accompanied the harvest, the grape picking or the olive harvest, and they have been studied and collected by lovers of folk music.
A neighbourhood celebration
What we like most about this tradition is its community spirit. While the beaters worked, the neighbours joined in by bringing food: fish, sweets and above all wine. Building the roof thus became an occasion for the whole district to come together.
It was a system of mutual help typical of farming communities. With the arrival of new building materials during the 20th century, roof beating disappeared, but it remains a precious memory of life on the island.
How to get there and when to go
Ischia can be reached by ferry and hydrofoil from Naples and from Pozzuoli. To discover its rural architecture, we recommend leaving the coast and heading up to the hill villages, such as Barano d'Ischia and Serrara Fontana, where among vineyards, dry-stone walls and the trails of Mount Epomeo you can still come across old houses with vaulted roofs. The best times are spring and autumn, ideal for walking. Check the ferry timetables before you set off.
In the surrounding area
To plan your stay, start from The island of Ischia: what to do and see and don't miss The Aragonese Castle and the Sea Museum of Ischia. After a day on foot, Ischia's spas and thermal parks are waiting for you, while at the table you can toast with an Ischia DOC, the wine from the very hills where roofs were once beaten. For the rest of the gulf, there is our guide Naples and its surroundings.
Top photo (Ischia): Dr.Conati at Italian Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Read also: Bracigliano and the snow gatherers
