Many ancient monuments are overgrown and eroded, while the public budget for culture fits the heritage of fashionable Italy.
Legend has it that the cave hidden among the steep cliffs of St. Mark’s Hill in Sutera, central Sicily, houses a treasure chest full of gold coins. To locate it, 3 men will have to dream of the exact position to dig.
Treasured or not, the cave itself is an archaeological gem, its walls have a multicolored Byzantine fresco of the sixteenth century depicting Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saints Paulinus, Luke, Mark and Matthew.
One of the first mountain oratories in the world, built by Basilian priests in the ninth century. But time has skated the frescoes, absolutely abandoned to the elements. Anyone interested can enter through a fragile door as there is no key or chain. The cave, now covered with vegetation, is unknown even to the citizens of nearby villages.
This forgotten corner of Sicily is just one of many abandoned archaeological sites, monuments and historic buildings throughout Italy. The country has the number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the world, but according to EU statistics, it is second to last in Europe for public cultural investment. As a result, parts of its immense heritage, which have survived earthquakes and wars, are at risk of being lost to vandalism, oblivion and looting.
About a hundred km from the cave of San Marco, also covered with vegetation, are the ruins of an ancient Greek quarry of the sixth century BC. C. , which was exploited to build cities and temples, such as those of Selinunte, in the province of Trapani. Columns and capitals cover the ground since the arrival of the Carthaginian fleets on the Sicilian coast in 409 BC. C.
“Today, this site is at the mercy of predators and thieves, who for centuries have plundered the domain in search of its valuable artifacts,” said Mimmo Macaluso, an EU researcher on Magna Graecia, the appeal given by the Romans to the southern coastal domains. Italy largely populated by Greek settlers.
“Anywhere else in the world, this would have become a museum, attracting millions of visitors. And instead, here it is, a treasure of the sixth century BC. C. J. -C. that collapses before our eyes.
Sicily is also home to the Necropolis of Pantalica, one of the most important protohistoric sites in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among canyons and forests are ancient tombs and dwellings dating from the thirteenth century BC. C. y have been degraded with paint spray in recent years.
“There are archaeological sites that haven’t even been closed. Anyone can go in and take home an ancient capital,” Macaluso said. “The only way for our heritage is to convince establishments to invest more public budget in our work. “
It is even more complicated to quantify the number of abandoned churches in Italy. According to researchers, there are thousands, many of whom were expropriated and then abandoned by the Napoleonic government. Others have been destroyed by earthquakes. Of those that remain, many are in a sorry state, harboring colonies of rats and prey to vandals.
“A few years ago, the Italian Episcopal Conference conducted a census of churches belonging to the Vatican,” says Luigi Bartolomei, a researcher in the architecture branch at the University of Bologna.
“There are about 67,000 places of worship in the church, but there are several thousand belonging to the Italian state and devout organizations in the country. How many of them have been abandoned? It’s hard to say, as there’s little data. “to have on those organizations and the churches they own.
A guest in Naples in the nineteenth century wrote in his diary that “Naples has more churches than Rome. “In the historic center of the city alone, there are more than two hundred churches, 75 of which are absolutely abandoned.
Others have real landfills. One is the Scorziata Church, built in 1579, which housed striking paintings, in addition to San Giovannino, a copy of the same name from a painting by Caravaggio. The church is closed to the public and the interior is a pile of rubble. His paintings and sculptures were all stolen.
According to the latest bulletin of works of art stolen through the carabinieri, only last year 8,405 pieces of archaeological interest disappeared in Italy.
Despite abandonment and vandalism, many of those churches continue to attract many visitors and onlookers, fascinated by the decadent atmosphere they evoke. Partially destroyed vaulted ceilings, altars and neglected pulpits remind visitors of the exotic temples of Indiana Jones.
Armed with his camera, Federico Limongelli, 35, spends weekends with friends exploring churches, nursing homes, villas and other abandoned buildings. In 2015, they created a Facebook page called “Tesori Abbandonati” (Abandoned Treasures), which now has more than 50,000 followers. .
“It started as a hobby,” Limongelli said. These are places that have sure appeal, and telling their stories through photography is also a way to draw attention to their abandonment. Many other people started sticking to us and posting on our page. Often they weren’t buildings or churches, sometimes they were total ghost towns.
Italy’s national statistics institute has counted around 6,000 ghost towns in Italy, many of which are medieval villages that have succumbed to earthquakes or landslides. Some continue to attract visitors and tourists, they are covered with vegetation. Others ended up on eBay.
In 2012, the 25 houses that make up the deserted medieval village of Patraricca, at the source of the Arno River, were auctioned with an initial bid of 2. 5 million euros.