What many people don’t know about Italy is that there are many fascinating Italian ghost towns there.
Italian ghost towns are usually small towns that have been abandoned by their inhabitants due to natural disasters or for economic reasons.
What is fascinating about Italian ghost towns is that time seems to have stopped there.
So, in this article I’d like to talk about three of the most fascinating Italian ghost towns you can see.
VALLE PIOLA
Valle Piola is the first of the three Italian ghost towns I’ll talk about today.
Valle Piola is a small ghost town in the Abruzzo region and is located at an elevation of 1017 meters in the Distretto tra i due Regni – The district between two Kingdoms.
No, you haven’t just jumped into The book of The Lord of the Rings, The district between two Kingdoms really exists and it’s a district of the Gran Sasso National Park.
The town of Valle Piola is really small and only consists of nine houses plus a Church and a shepherd’s shelter.
Valle Piola was inhabited mainly by farmers. Each famer had his own stall and his own garden. This allowed them to be self-sufficient and to survive for long periods of time without the need to go to the far city of Teramo to get supplies.
Since in Valle Piola life was harsh, in the fifties the first farmers started to leave the village and moved to the city of Teramo in search for a better life. By 1977 Valle Piola was completely abandoned.
Nowadays, the area of the ghost town of Valle Piola is used mainly for the grazing of livestock.
CRACO
One of the most famous and spectacular Italian ghost towns is surely the town of Craco.
Craco is located in the Basilicata region at an elevation of 390 meters.
The houses in Craco probably date back to the XII century.
In Middle Ages, the town became a strategic military center.
In Modern Ages, instead, Craco became a feud and as such it was sold to different families until the Vergaras bought it.
The Vergaras owned the feud until the abolition of feudality, improved the town and reduced the taxation.
In 1963, due to a landslide, the population started to be evacuated from Craco. In 1972 a flood further worsened the situation of the town of Craco. Finally, in 1980 an earthquake made completely impossible the repopulation of the town.
Nowadays the town of Craco can be visited following a secure path. Some scenes of very famous films were also shot in Craco, such as King David, Quantum of Solace, The Passion of the Christ.
PENTEDATTILO
Pentadattilo is an Italian ghost town in the Calabria region placed at an elevation of 250 meters.
Pentadattilo is located on Mount Calvario. This mountain once had the shape of five fingers. This is the reason why the town is called Pentadattilo (penta = five, dattilo = fingers).
The town of Pentadattilo was founded in 640 BC as a colony of a Greek city. Back then, and during the Roman eras, it was a very flourishing city. However, when the Byzantines conquered it, it started to decline. It was then sacked several times by different plunderers such as the Saracens and the Duke of Calabria.
In the 12th century Pentadattilo became a feud and was owned by the Abenevolis first, the Francopertas then, and then by the Albertis, the Clementes and, finally, by the family Ramirez.
In 1783 there was a severe earthquake that seriously damaged the town of Pentadattilo. Since then, the population started to move to the nearby town of Melito Porto Salvo.
Around 1960 Pentadattilo was completely abandoned.
Twenty years later, Pentadattilo started to be restored and repopulated by volunteers.
Nowadays in Pentadattilo there are some shops and a restaurant and at least two festivals are organized there each year: the festival Paleariza, in Summer, and the Pentadattilo Film Festival, between August and September.
Have you already visited these three Italian ghost towns? Did you like them?
Credits
Original image by Idéfix
Ten Italian cooking terms you should know
