Gibellina - modern lost town

The Sicilian village of Gibellina was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1968. Instead of rebuilding the structures in the old place, a small town for 6500 inhabitants was built nine kilometres to the west. It was designed on a drawing board by renowned architects and artists of the time. But the town was never really accepted by its inhabitants. Buildings and works of art are decaying, the city seems extinct - exemplified by the Sistema delle piazze, reminiscent of Egyptian monumental buildings (image 1). The theatre (images 2 and 3) was never completed and never occupied, and the neighbouring art museum (image 4) is largely empty. Nevertheless, Gibellina Nuova exudes a fascination of its own, reinforced by the multitude of public works of art (images 5 and 6) or the unique architecture of some buildings such as the church "Chiesa Madre" (image 7). This is even more true for the historic site of the village - Gibellina Vecchia. Here, the Italian artist Alfredo Burri created the largest open-air sculpture in Europe: Cretto, a 300 x 400 metre concrete structure with deep furrows tracing the historic streets (images 8 and 9).