1. The History
Perched on 2,000 foot cliff overlooking the Bianco River valley, Romagnano al Monte is an abandoned village located in the Campania region of southern Italy. The village was destroyed in 1980 by the Irpinia earthquake forcing the 370 or so inhabitants to abandon Romagnano and relocate to a new village a few kilometers away. The ghost town became a tourist attraction in the early 2000s, before falling into ruin and being sealed off to the general public.
The origins of the village can be traced back to its foundation in 1167AD. The village appears to have suffered a litany of disasters; a plague epidemic and an earthquake in the 17th century, a famine in the 18th century and another earthquake in 1857 which measured 7.0 on the Richter scale.
2. The Explore
Italy has a number of ‘ghost’ villages. When we ended up staying literally 20 minutes away from Romagnano it was a no-brainer to drive over to see it. You can get right up to the start of the village by car still. You are then confronted with two gates to try to keep you out. These were easily negotiated so I spend the next couple of hours exploring the village. They’ve tried to keep the main street sealed so you want get to the individual dwellings but there’s always a way to get round the metal sheeting. The main attraction is the former church with is accessible but heavily scaffolded on the interior. After the church it’s pretty much a free-for-all with most of the abandoned houses that tumble down the steep slopes accessible.
There’s not a lot left in the houses as the former inhabitants moved all of their possessions to the nearby new town. However, the place remains very atmospheric, highly photogenic and pretty unique.
3. The Pictures
The location is pretty impressive:
Up amongst the gods:
The initial row of houses on the village’s approach:
And on to the first gate:
And past the second gate:
Some plant they were using for some former restoration work now rusting away:
The church soon looms up to the right of the main street:
Inside it’s heavily scaffolded:
You can just about see the pulpit!
Some of the decorative moulding still remains:
You can make out some of the frescos on this bit:
End wall with yet more scaffolding:
Date of the door, 1894:
And back out:
House without floors:
Discarded milk bottles:
This was in a new property that was presumably under construction at the time of the earthquake:
Further down the main street we head:
As the morning sun shafts down:
Some discarded footware:
More houses:
Perched on 2,000 foot cliff overlooking the Bianco River valley, Romagnano al Monte is an abandoned village located in the Campania region of southern Italy. The village was destroyed in 1980 by the Irpinia earthquake forcing the 370 or so inhabitants to abandon Romagnano and relocate to a new village a few kilometers away. The ghost town became a tourist attraction in the early 2000s, before falling into ruin and being sealed off to the general public.
The origins of the village can be traced back to its foundation in 1167AD. The village appears to have suffered a litany of disasters; a plague epidemic and an earthquake in the 17th century, a famine in the 18th century and another earthquake in 1857 which measured 7.0 on the Richter scale.
2. The Explore
Italy has a number of ‘ghost’ villages. When we ended up staying literally 20 minutes away from Romagnano it was a no-brainer to drive over to see it. You can get right up to the start of the village by car still. You are then confronted with two gates to try to keep you out. These were easily negotiated so I spend the next couple of hours exploring the village. They’ve tried to keep the main street sealed so you want get to the individual dwellings but there’s always a way to get round the metal sheeting. The main attraction is the former church with is accessible but heavily scaffolded on the interior. After the church it’s pretty much a free-for-all with most of the abandoned houses that tumble down the steep slopes accessible.
There’s not a lot left in the houses as the former inhabitants moved all of their possessions to the nearby new town. However, the place remains very atmospheric, highly photogenic and pretty unique.
3. The Pictures
The location is pretty impressive:
Up amongst the gods:
The initial row of houses on the village’s approach:
And on to the first gate:
And past the second gate:
Some plant they were using for some former restoration work now rusting away:
The church soon looms up to the right of the main street:
Inside it’s heavily scaffolded:
You can just about see the pulpit!
Some of the decorative moulding still remains:
You can make out some of the frescos on this bit:
End wall with yet more scaffolding:
Date of the door, 1894:
And back out:
House without floors:
Discarded milk bottles:
This was in a new property that was presumably under construction at the time of the earthquake:
Further down the main street we head:
As the morning sun shafts down:
Some discarded footware:
More houses:
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