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Halloween special
13 ghost villages for Halloween
Towns emptied by landslides, earthquakes, dams and malaria. Real places with a documented history, where the silence is eerier than any legend.
Many of these villages are unsafe or can only be visited with a guide: check each page and respect any bans.
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01
The town evacuated by a landslide
Craco · prov. Matera, Basilicata · 1963 · Landslide Limited access
Perched on a clay ridge among the badlands of Basilicata, Craco was evacuated after the 1963 landslide and has stood frozen in time ever since. Its empty houses, Norman tower and collapsed square have made it one of cinema's favourite sets.
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02
The bell tower rising from the lake
Curon Venosta (vecchio paese) · prov. Bolzano, Trentino-Alto Adige · 1950 · Flooded by a reservoir Open to visit
In 1950 the Lake Resia dam flooded the old village of Curon. Only the 14th-century bell tower was left above the water, and it has become the symbol of the Val Venosta.
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03
The village held in a hand of stone
Pentidattilo · prov. Reggio Calabria, Calabria · 20th century · Earthquake and depopulation Open to visit
Built at the foot of a hand-shaped rock, Pentedattilo overlooks the Ionian coast above Melito di Porto Salvo. Damaged by the 1783 earthquake and emptied in the twentieth century, today it comes back to life in summer with workshops, museums and festivals.
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04
A town buried under concrete
Gibellina Vecchia · prov. Trapani, Sicily · 1968 · Belice earthquake Open to visit
The 1968 Belice earthquake razed Gibellina to the ground, and it was rebuilt twenty kilometres away. Over its rubble Alberto Burri laid the Grande Cretto: a huge cast of white concrete that follows the old streets, where you walk as if in a maze.
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05
The city of toys left empty
Consonno · prov. Lecco, Lombardy · 1976 · Landslide on the access road Limited access
In the 1960s a businessman bought the entire village to turn it into the «Las Vegas of Brianza», with a minaret, a pagoda and a ballroom. A landslide in 1976 cut the road, and the dream stopped halfway.
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06
The village that rises from the water
Fabbriche di Careggine · prov. Lucca, Tuscany · 1947 · Flooded by a reservoir Limited access
Fabbriche di Careggine, a blacksmiths' village in the Garfagnana, ended up under the waters of the artificial Lake Vagli after the dam was built. It resurfaced when the lake was drained in 1958, 1974, 1983 and 1994, drawing crowds of visitors every time.
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07
Houses still standing, nobody inside
Balestrino (borgo vecchio) · prov. Savona, Liguria · 1950s · Unstable ground Outside view only
Below the Del Carretto castle, the old village of Balestrino was evacuated in the 1950s because of unstable ground. The houses are still standing, clinging to the slope, but nobody can go inside any more.
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08
Bars still furnished
Apice Vecchia · prov. Benevento, Campania · 1962 · Earthquake Limited access
Apice Vecchia was emptied after the 1962 earthquake and for good after the one in 1980. Bars still furnished, shop signs and black-and-white photos in the alleys tell of a town frozen sixty years ago, beneath the Castello dell'Ettore.
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09
The Pompeii of the twentieth century
Roscigno Vecchia · prov. Salerno, Campania · early 20th century · Landslides Open to visit
In the heart of the Cilento, Roscigno Vecchia was emptied in the early twentieth century because the ground kept sliding. The square with its fountain and the church of San Nicola has survived intact: that is why it is called the Pompeii of the twentieth century.
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10
Destroyed by an earthquake, reclaimed by artists
Bussana Vecchia · prov. Imperia, Liguria · 1887 · Earthquake Open to visit
Destroyed by the 1887 earthquake and abandoned, Bussana Vecchia was taken over from the 1960s by artists from all over Europe. Today it is a village of workshops and studios among the ruins, a few minutes from Sanremo.
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11
Ruins in the woods after a sack
Monterano · prov. Rome, Lazio · late 18th century · Abandoned after a sack Open to visit
Abandoned after being sacked by French troops in 1799, Monterano is a tuff town deep in the woods 50 km from Rome. Among the ruins stand the aqueduct, the ducal palace and the lion fountain designed in the manner of Bernini: a set much loved by film-makers.
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12
Emptied by malaria
Monumento naturale di Galeria Antica · prov. Rome, Lazio · early 19th century · Malaria Outside view only
On a tuff spur above the river Arrone, Galeria was inhabited from the Middle Ages and completely abandoned at the start of the 1800s, partly because of malaria. Today the ruins, the Romanesque bell tower and the Fossetto waterfall are wrapped in woods, inside a natural monument of Rome.
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13
The old town after the Irpinia earthquake
Conza della Campania (borgo vecchio) · prov. Avellino, Campania · 1980 · Irpinia earthquake Limited access
The Irpinia earthquake of 23 November 1980 destroyed almost all of the old town of Conza. The rubble brought the Roman town of Compsa back to light: today the destroyed village and the ancient forum are visited together.
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