17 August 2011

Bussana Vecchia - the Village that Died


Today we start a new series - one I think - I hope - you will love.

Bussana Vecchia was a traditional Italian hill village (it's about 50 minutes from Menton) that came to an end at 6.21 am on the morning of Ash Wednesday 1887. A violent earthquake struck this medieval village located near to San Remo.

That morning most of the inhabitants were sleeping or had gone to church before making their way to their fields. The first shock was devastating. Many of the houses, particularly those around the castle were destroyed or seriously damaged. Many inhabitants were killed in the collapsing buildings or died under the rubble later. The survivors built themselves huts in the fields at the entrance to the village, where they lived for seven years but the village was finally abandoned in 1894.

Nobody lived in the village for decades. Trees grew into derelict houses until they were disturbed by the San Remo Council who tried blasting down the church tower and tried to destroy archways and staircases in an attempt to render the village uninhabitable after migrant workers from the south of Italy had found shelter in the least damaged of the houses.

After that, Bussana Vecchia was a ghost village inhabited only by cats.

And then came the Sixities... do come back tomorrow when I'll tell you what happened to this, one of my favourite villages in this region.

Click on the photo to enlarge it and you'll see the state of some of the buildings including the church that has no roof.

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Aujourd'hui, nous commençons une nouvelle série - une série que je pense et j'espère - vous allez adorer.

Bussana Vecchia était un village italien typique perché en haut d' une colline (à environ 50 minutes de Menton) qui fut détruit à 6h21 le matin du Mercredi des Cendres 1887. Un violent séisme avait frappé ce village médiéval situé à proximité de San Rémo.

Ce matin-là, la plupart des habitants dormaient ou étaient allés à l'église avant de se rendre aux champs. La première secousse a été dévastatrice. Beaucoup de maisons, en particulier celles autour du château ont été détruites ou gravement endommagées. Beaucoup d'habitants ont été tués sur le coup ou sont morts plus tard sous les décombres. Les survivants se sont construits des cabanes dans les champs à l'entrée du village où ils ont vécu pendant sept ans. Le village a finalement été abandonné en 1894.

Personne n'a vécu dans le village pendant des décennies. Les arbres ont grandi dans des maisons abandonnées. Le Conseil de San Rémo a entrepris par la suite le dynamitage du bas de la tour de l'église, la destruction des voûtes et des escaliers pour tenter de rendre le village inhabitable car des travailleurs migrants en provenance du sud de l'Italie avaient trouvé refuge dans les maisons les moins endommagées.

Après cela, Bussana Vecchia a été un village fantôme habité uniquement par des chats.

Et puis vinrent les années soixante ... revenez demain je vous raconterai la suite de l'histoire d'un de mes villages préférés de cette région.


Cliquez sur la photo pour l'agrandir et vous verrez l'état de certains bâtiments dont l'église qui n'a pas de toit.

11 comments:

  1. Gosh that's the eeriest thing to see Jilly, a completely deserted village, it looks as if it would have been the most beautiful place before this tragic event! Can't wait for next episode!

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  2. Jilly that first photo is spectacular - the dramatic sky and amazing hilltop church caught my attention immediately. And then the story... I'm hooked and can't wait for more!!!

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  3. Jilly can't wait for tomorrow.

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  4. Gorgeous shot with the old village. I like the sky over it too. Have a great day!

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  5. J'attends la suite avec grande impatience !
    Votre blog est vraiment attrayant, depuis toujours. Merci à vous.

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  6. The pictures are eerily beautiful, their history is equally fascinating.

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  7. So dramatic - so chilling this photo and the background. I want to know the stories of all those people who died there, and of the village, the buildings. Eager to see what you'll show next.

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  8. I"m hooked along with the rest. The top photo is amazing Jilly. A preview of what's to come.
    V

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  9. So clever to have captured that particular sky, Jilly. It so accompanies the story you are about to flesh out. Fascinating stuff ...

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  10. I gasped when this came up on my screen. How silly of me to think only the wild west had ghost towns! And how did you get that sky?

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