The tower
At the summit.
Maurizio Moro5153 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Anna Nicoletta Menzella — CC BY-SA 4.0 · ValentinaRosati85 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Maurizio Moro5153 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dage - Looking For Europe — CC BY 2.0
Craco is a ghost town in Basilicata, southern Italy, about 40 km inland from the Gulf of Taranto and some 35 km southwest of Matera in a straight line. Today it is a tourist attraction and popular filming location, and in 2010 the World Monuments Fund added it to its watch list. The town was built on a very steep summit, atop a 400-metre cliff overlooking the Cavone River valley. Tombs from the 8th century BC have been found in the area, Greeks settled here around 540 BC, and the name dates back to 1060. In 1963 the town began to be evacuated because of a series of landslides, with residents moving down to the valley, and after the 1980 earthquake the old site was abandoned completely. Empty stone houses pile up on the rock around a tall tower at the summit, so the town seems carved from the mountain itself. Bare eroded hills called calanchi surround it, with golden fields stretching to the horizon, and wide views over the valley open from among the ruins. Visitors take in the town from the road and surrounding hills, and walk around its edges. The buildings are cracked and unstable, so keep clear of them; sunset light brings out the colours of the stone and hills.
At the summit.
Bare, eroded hills.
Stone houses.
Craco, Province of Matera, Basilicata, Italy
They are cracked and unstable; keep clear.
Landslides, then the 1980 earthquake.