Ghost villages

Details: Category: dintornis; Last Updated on Friday, 23 February 2024 14:02; Published on Friday, 24 May 2013 14:41; Hits: 765

Village of Pentedattilo (municipaly of Melito Porto Salvo)

One of the most characteristic and evocative abandoned villages in Calabria, located close to Aspromonte and in the heart of the Grecanica area of Calabria, Pentedattilo rises perched on the cliff of Mount Calvario, whose characteristic shape resembles that of a cyclopean hand with five fingers and from which it derives its name. Pentedattilo is part of the municipal territory of Motta San Giovanni (RC). The evocative walk through the silent streets of the ancient 'ghost village' will allow visitors to admire, among other things: the ruins of the ancient castle and interesting sacred buildings, the pinnacle of the mountain, on which the village rests, resembling the thumb of the hand.

Vilage of Roghudi Vecchio
Situated on the southern slopes of Aspromonte in Greek Calabria, the village of Roghudi Vecchio - inhabited by people of the Grecanica ethnic group - was completely abandoned following two very strong floods in 1971 and 1973, dates on which the village, until then the municipal seat, was declared totally uninhabitable. The scenery is breathtaking. The village, surrounded by mountains, lies at a height of more than 500 m. on the crest of a hill, which rises in the middle of the fiumara Amendolea. A short distance away are two noteworthy geological formations: the milk cauldrons and the Rocca del Drago. These rocks have been shaped over time by wind, rain and ice to become curious natural monuments.

Village of Brancaleone Superiore

In the Middle Ages it was a fortified village and belonged to various feudal lords, but it is now almost completely abandoned due to the floods and landslides that struck it. Brancaleone Superiore was a place of literary inspiration, in particularly significant pages for the writer Cesare Pavese, who was sent to confinement precisely in Brancaleone by the fascist regime (1935-1936). To be seen, in the silence of the ghost town and in the neighbouring areas:
The 'New Church' of 1939 with a Latin cross plan.
The caves, probably the remains of a monastic complex.
The ruins of the village, with the remains of the ancient church of the Annunziata (1500).
A small rupestrian church, with a Byzantine fresco, still in use today.

Village of Africo Vecchio

The name seems to derive from afrikos, meaning 'exposed to the sun', or from the name of a libeccio wind. The site of Africo Vecchio was abandoned following the floods of 1951 and 1953, which forced the local population to leave the mountain and set up a new settlement by the sea, near Bianco, where today's Africo Nuovo stands. In the old town, which can be reached by taking the road that connects Bova to Campi di Bova, is the small church of San Leo, a small rectangular building of Basilian origin, rebuilt in the 17th century.