Civita Di Bagnoregio, known as Italy’s dying town, is a 3000-year-old picture-perfect village perched on a hill about 75 miles north of Rome. Ages ago, Civita was much bigger than it is now, and a road connected it to other settlements.
Constant earthquakes, landslides, and erosion have reduced the size of the town dramatically. All this has stripped away much of the volcanic rock from the cliff. That is the reason it is called the dying town. Civita looks like a floating castle or an island on top of a hill because it is so secluded from other parts.
Civita has countered death for so long that Italy has nominated it and the surrounding areas comprising stark cliffs and valleys to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These cliffs and valleys are known as “badlands”.
Today, Civita is just 500 feet long and 300 feet wide, and it is only accessible by a bridge. With only a few streets and houses from the medieval period and has about 12 permanent residents.
The Dying Town
Also Read: In Pics: Italy’s Glaciers Face A New Threat: Pink Ice
The inhabitants have built seven ‘structural wells’ underground around its perimeter, which have hundreds of steel rods attached to the hillside rock to prevent it from collapsing.
The only thing that helped in keeping Civita alive was tourism. The total number of visitors that came to the town went from 40,000 in 2009 to a million in 2019.
Visitors have to give a minimal amount of five euros as a fee to cross the pedestrian bridge and enter Civita.
The financial boost from tourists helped create jobs and pay for the structural monitoring system that keeps the town standing.
But the pandemic and international travel restrictions have reduced the money coming into the town, which is essential for its survival. Visitors from within Italy can still visit the town. That has helped in conserving the town.
Recognition from UNESCO will surely bring international attention and tourism that the town needs to survive for a longer time.
Image Credit: Google Images
Sources: Reuters, The Times of India, CNN
Find The Blogger: @PrernaMagan
This Post Is Tagged Under: Civita Di Bagnoregio, Civita Di Bagnoregio, Italy coronavirus, coronavirus, corona Italy, Italy time, Italy news, coronavirus in Italy, coronavirus India, President of Italy, Italy population, Germany, Italy covid, Spain, time in Italy, France, Italy death, Italy currency, little Italy, Italy visa, corona India, Italy map, Italy country, Rome, Italy capital, Italian language, Italian people, News- Broadcast genre, vaccine, Italy latest news, covid Italy news, Italy coronavirus cases, the dying town of Italy, roman period, roman era, Civita, heritage site, tourism, Tourism in Italy, Coronavirus update, pandemic, Lockdown, UNESCO
Other Recommendations:
Amidst Lockdown Woes, Here’s How An Italian Cruise Is Providing An Escape In A “Health Bubble”
