L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano T o u r i s t s l o v e Italy. Rich cul- tural treasures, history in every c o b b l e s t o n e , w o r k s o f a r t t o r i v a l t h e heavens, food and wine so good it hurts, landscapes made of dreams — what's not to love? But like a dys- functional union, that love can turn toxic. Making regular headlines over the past several years, over-tourism in Italy has furrowed the worried brows of many Italian citizens and municipalities. Venice alone saw 4.77 million tourists in 2 0 1 9 — i t ' s a w o n d e r S t Mark's Square didn't sink into the bog. Unthinkable blunders are rife: how about cooling off half-dressed in Rome's Trevi Fountain, or p e r h a p s s t u f f i n g a Pompeiian brick down your knickers to show the folks b a c k h o m e … o r h e y , l e t ' s carve some initials into the walls of the Colosseum. The list goes on as incidents have increased in recent pre-pan- demic years — and the out- rage of Italian citizens has risen in accord. Before Covid-19 restric- tions brought an immediate albeit transitory and eco- nomically devastating solu- tion, cities such as Rome, Venice, Florence, and the Cinque Terre were already enacting policies to protect their natural and cultural treasures, as well as their daily lives. After all, if the passion for a place brings a b o u t i t s u n d o i n g , l i m i t s have to be put into place to curb the flow — and results —of excessive tourism. E x c e p t f o r o n e s m a l l Umbrian village – Civita di Bagnoregio. Its remaining dwellings a p p e a r t o t e e t e r o n t u f a cliffs, precariously perched on the soft clay remains of a n c i e n t v o l c a n i c v a l l e y s . What is left of "il paese che muore" (the dying town) sits atop a pinnacle of land, a virtual island in the bad- l a n d s o f t h e V a l l e d i e Calanchi. Breathtakingly picturesque, even by Italian standards, the small borgo is accessible only by a sturdy c o n c r e t e f o o t b r i d g e t h a t spills across a mini canyon created by relatively recent e r o s i o n a n d s e i s m i c r a t - tlings. Clocking in with 2,500 y e a r s o f e x i s t e n c e , w h a t r e m a i n s o f C i v i t a d i Bagnoregio is but a ghost of its former self. The town's small but impressive collec- tion of surviving Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval archi- tecture is literally disappear- ing before our eyes. A vine l a c e d f a ç a d e i s a l l t h a t r e m a i n s o f a w e l l - t o - d o Renaissance family's home, the windows and door open- ing into a void of nothing- ness over the valley below. With anywhere from 5 to 20 landslides annually, each passing year brings potential treachery. Fragile, crum- bling tufa places no value on historic structures. With nothing to look for- ward to but eventually dis- solving into the cliffside, Civita saw a brief resuscita- tion in the 1960s and 70s when wealthy Italians from Rome and Florence sought second home retreats. The a l l u r e w a n e d , h o w e v e r , when the lack of essentials PAULA REYNOLDS b e c a m e t o o b u r d e n s o m e . Civita and her 10 to 12 citi- zens tenaciously held on, grateful for the annual trick- l e o f c u r i o s i t y s e e k i n g t o u r i s t s a n d a r t i s t s ; t h e dying city was on life sup- port. It was the year 2013 that brought the beginnings of a s p e c t a c u l a r t u r n a r o u n d . Civita's mayor, Francesco Bigiotti, came up with a rev- olutionary proposition to s a v e h i s t o w n . A l r e a d y a c t i v e l y c a m p a i g n i n g t o b r i n g e v e n t s t o C i v i t a , Bigiotti daringly proposed charging an entry fee, the first ever in Italy, for access to the village. Despite the h e a r t y s k e p t i c i s m o f h i s peers, Bigiotti pressed for- ward. His hunch: charging visitors a fee would increase t h e p e r c e i v e d v a l u e . H e started with the small sum of €1.50; who could argue with that after making the effort to get to this out-of- the-way place? B i g i o t t i ' s w i l d i d e a worked. Perhaps the great- est marketing coup in Italian Civita di Bagnoregio, in Umbria (Photo: Stevanzz/Dreamstime) Deliberate over-tourism: how reverse psychology saved this Italian ghost town Continued to page 22 LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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