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Ginestra: The Plant that Challenged Calabria’s Women Weavers

Updated: Apr 15, 2021

At first glance the bright yellow flowers of the ginestra plant encourage you to

come closer – to examine the beauty pf each delicate petal and to marvel at the

flexibility of the stems – stems that could be cured and woven into sheets, towels,

tablecloths and clothing that would become staples of family life in the isolated

mountains of Calabria.


The craft was brought to Calabria by Jewish women running from the Inquisition

who, having discovered the special uses for ginestra, encouraged entire

mountain communities to gather ginestra branches.


Known in the western world as “broom”, the ginestra branches were tied with

string and soaked in a copper pot filled with boiling water. Following the fibers’

hot bath, the branches were placed in the rushing water of the Amato River

where a little mountain of rocks held the ginestra in place while it softened under

water for one week.


When local weavers pronounced the fibers soft enough, the interior fibers were

pulled from the branches and woven into a coarse but sturdy fabric that

Calabrian mountain women wove into mats, blankets, grain sacks and shopping

bags – coverings, containers and clothing of all kinds.


During the war years of the early 1940’s poverty was rampant in Calabria. The

women of the family, particularly the “nonne” (grandmothers) recalled their

ginestra days and began to weave ginestra cloth to be used for children’s clothing.

The story is told of young Giuseppe who was adamant that he attend the local

school in Serrastretta. With nothing to wear but tattered shorts, Giuseppe’s

grandmother made him a pair of pants from woven ginestra cloth. Giuseppe

recalls how the coarse cloth rubbed his legs raw and to this day refers to his

ginestra “pantaloni” as “my pants that stood up by themselves!”



Calabria Treasures offers a variety of items made from ginestra – some nearly 100

years old. These distinctive pieces were part of every household and each one

evokes memories from stories told by grandmothers and great grandmothers.

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1 Comment


josie marsico
josie marsico
Aug 11

I saw on RAI TV that some ladies have a business making clothing from ginestre. Their business is in Calabria. Don you know where this business is located?

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