Sicilian Town That Is Frozen In Time

In this video we have the pleasure to discover an old Sicilian town that’s been abandoned for over 50 years. Poggioreale (in the Sicilian language: Poggiuriali) is a small town and a comune in the province of Trapani, western Sicily, southern Italy, located in the Belice valley. The landscape shown in this video is breathtaking. The hills in the background are very green and the sky is very blue, decorated by shiny white clouds. The reason for this abandoned beauty is that in 1968, the Sicilian town of Poggioreale was hit by a strong and deadly earthquake. This natural disaster resulted in more than 200 people losing their lives and thousands were left without a shelter. The town, or what’s left of it, is still standing up to this day and reminds us of that horrible day when people died and a lot were put in critical situations. Instead of trying to rebuild the town over the ruins, another village was built not so far away from the location of the first one.

The local population was not happy about that decision and they preferred to move away before the new village was finished. The result of this is a lot of memories and history have been left behind. The new town was not really accepted, much of the population of the town hated it. The reconstruction process lacked the old look of Poggioreale, and that’s why the population was really mad since their favorite place had been changed forever, and not in good ways. Slowly the area saw its population decreasing, as a direct results of the events that occurred in this tiny village.

The result of all this is a ghost town, where only stray dogs are just living there, and the houses can be bought for such low prices. The population of Poggioreale are hoping for a change. The ghost town that they are left with could be turned into a tourist destination. They could talk about the events that took place in the village as well as make money, which could lead to an actual reconstruction of the village, one that the residents would accept.

Nevertheless, it is still a really good location if you wish to explore an abandoned site. Today, it is the original Poggioreale that is proving most attractive. Thousands of tourists visit the “ghost town” every year, wandering among its roofless homes, visiting the ruins, while having the green hills by the side. If you decide to head over to this tiny Sicilian village, you need to respect the history. Do not explore places that are closed to public, no matter the reason. It is still a place where people were living for decades and their history was taken away from them by a natural disaster. Respect the place, do not leave rubbish upon visiting. If you believe that the city will revive from its ashes one day, then you need to give it t proper amount of respect.