Burning Ambition

Behind the pile of limestone is the limekiln, or cuptor - it's in front of the angled roof.  The main purpose of the visit to Romania was to learn about traditional limeburning.

The stone in front of the kiln - all 8 tons of it - is loaded completely by hand, one stone at a time.  The initial phase of loading is more skilled than you'd think.  There needs to be an empty space at the base of the kiln for the fuel (in this case, wood).  This is done by stacking the stone in a dome, rather like an igloo, but without the tight seams.  Space between each stone is needed for the lime to burn evenly.  Once the dome is built, further layers of stone are added.  Finally, the top of the kiln is sealed with layers of hay and  mud/clay.  Once lit, it's stoked day and night until the burn is finished.  Then all the stone, now quicklime, is taken out, again by hand.  The stone doesn't change in size, but is now half the weight - 8 tons of stone yields 4 tons of quicklime.