Monday, November 02, 2015

CULTURE AT RISK - Medieval Italian Town, Civita di Bagnoregio


"The crumbling, picture-perfect Italian town that’s making a comeback" PBS NewsHour 10/27/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  There are just seven year-round residents -- and who knows how many cats -- in the Medieval Italian town of Civita di Bagnoregio, also known as the dying city.  The picturesque hilltop town, visited by droves of tourists, is built upon layers of rock and shifting clay, susceptible to weather and natural disaster.  Jeffrey Brown reports on efforts to revive and reinforce the city.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Next, an Italian hilltop town hovering between life and death, and the efforts being made to save it.

Jeffrey Brown traveled there as part of our ongoing series Culture at Risk.

JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour):  Each morning, as the sun rises on this medieval town seemingly plucked from a fairy tale, the narrow lanes of Civita di Bagnoregio are quiet.  By the latest count, there are just seven year-round residents, and who knows how many cats.

By mid-morning, though, the scene on this beautiful fall day has changed, as thousands of tourists make the difficult hike up a long, steep footbridge.  There’s no cars allowed here, drawn by the beauty and peculiarity of this place, where staircases lead off cliffs and windows lead into the clouds.

In Italian, it’s called la Citta Che Muore, the Dying City, dying because it’s literally crumbling before our eyes.  But now a mix a geological engineering and tourism is giving this ancient city new life.

CLAUDIO MARGOTTINI, Italy Geological Survey:  After we have a collapse, it takes about two, three, 10 years to have the next collapse in the same part of the cliff.

JEFFREY BROWN:  Claudio Margottini, with Italy’s Geological Survey, has worked in Civita for several decades.

So, here’s part of the problem, right, buildings falling down?

CLAUDIO MARGOTTINI:  Yes, exactly.  This is exactly an example of what the problem is in this town.  So, we are just close to the cliff.  And the cliff is falling down piece by piece, maybe five, six meters at a time.

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