The domed stone oven – forno a cupola in Italian – is one of those features that people who love cooking often dream of: it’s beautiful to look at, and it makes food taste better.  Lighting it takes time and some patience, but once it’s hot, it holds the heat for hours and creates that perfect environment for making bread or pizza the old-fashioned way.

There’s also a sense of ritual to it: feeding the fire, waiting for the temperature to build… it all adds to the experience. As it’s easy to guess, the domed oven has ancient roots and it was the Romans who really perfected its design, turning it into a standard feature of homes, villas, bakeries, and even military outposts across the empire.