Inside a ghost town in Italy that's been abandoned since the 1970s

The southern Italian region of Basilicata, sitting between Apulia and Calabria, is home to the ghost town of Craco, not far from Matera which is considered one of the oldest cities in the world. Perched on a rock almost 400 metres above sea level, Craco was founded in the 8th century B.C.E. by Greeks fleeing the malaria that was endemic on the plain below. Nearly two millennia later, Byzantine monks would develop agriculture there from the 10th century onwards. In the Middle Ages, the town was known as a powerful local stronghold. Its hilltop location made it a strategic site for military observation and defence, thanks in particular to its Norman tower, which can still be visited today. In the 15th century, this prosperous town boasted four sumptuous palaces, and in the 19th century, it was threatened by the many brigands found in the region.

But it was in 1963, when the town’s population was just under 2,000 inhabitants, that its history took a different turn. A series of landslides caused houses to collapse and forced inhabitants to flee to a nearby village. Although some residents continued to live in Craco, the village was once again devastated in 1972, this time by a flood. The final blow came in 1980, in the form of an earthquake. The final holdouts packed up, left, and it became a ghost town in Italy.

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A Ghost Town Appears On The Silver Screen

Since then, Craco has remained (almost) untouched and it is home to mysterious legends, including its 14th-century church, the Chiesa Madre San Nicola, which contains the mummified remains of a saint; and its Canzoniere, a tavern that was once, supposedly, run by a witch who enchanted her patrons. The town’s fame became international when it was used as a location for the 2008 James Bond film James Bond, Quantum of Solace, and it continues to attract curious travellers. Although it is officially off-limits, the deserted streets of Craco can be explored by those willing to do so at their own peril, wandering through the unusual town that sits amidst century-old olive trees. As its state of disrepair has worsened over the years, the village has been included on the list of sites that are priorities of the World Monuments Fund.

Italy’s Other Abandoned Villages

Craco is not the only ghost town in Italy and there are several that are well worth visiting. Poggioreale, in western Sicily, for example, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1968 and its ruins have been left untouched ever since. It is a ‘modern Pompeii’ of the locals, who lost 200 residents in the earthquake and had to rebuild another town nearby. Fossa, in the Abruzzo region, suffered a similar fate more recently, in 2009. You can also visit the village, which was the site of a human settlement since ancient times. On Instagram, a number of adventurers have taken to exploring the abandoned houses, where furniture, objects, crockery, and children’s toys can still be found, left behind following the earthquake that led to Fossa being abandoned.

Finally, Calcata, near Rome, is also perched on an enormous rock and it was almost abandoned. In the 1930s, authorities decided to close the site on the edge of a fragile volcanic cliff. In the 1960s, the village was largely abandoned, except for a few hippies who found refuge there. Since then, Calcata has been occupied solely by artists who are striving to restore and enhance the history of a place that the New York Times described in 2007 as “the grooviest village in Italy, home to a wacky community of about 100 artists, bohemians, aging hippies and New Age types.”

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