Craco is an Italian town located in the Basilicata region to the south of the peninsula. This city has a particular history as it has been abandoned and depopulated little by little. This is one of the places that exists but doesn’t really exist, called the ghost town.
History of Craco
In 1963 after a landslide in the city of Craco, many of the inhabitants decided to leave the city. This was the reason why the city was abandoned.
Along with the collapse of 1963, others were successively added and also a couple of earthquakes, this caused the inhabitants to move to Craco Peschiera.
The medieval town of Craco seems as if it has been frozen in time and when you visit it you feel like you go back to medieval times.
The city is made up of very small stone alleys flanked by abandoned houses and some with rusty railings. In the square you can see what remains of the church bell tower, the pastry shop among other businesses. If you close your eyes you can imagine the square full of people but when you open them you realize that everything is silent. Even when walking through the streets, you can still see some tables or chairs through the windows that are completely abandoned in their same position. One of the monuments that you surely cannot miss is the Norman tower from where you can admire the beautiful landscape from above.
Present times
Despite being an almost uninhabited and ghost town, Craco attracts many tourists from the world for this particularity and is one of the favorite locations of film or video clip producers. In 2010, the town was inscribed on the list of monuments to protect the “World Monuments Fund”. In 2011 the city council carried out a recovery plan for the city and now itineraries have been created for tourists so that they can visit the main sites with care.
You can also visit the Museo emozionale di Craco (MEC), where you can appreciate the history of the town and even see some projections of historical archives.
