We were off to visit Erice and Segesta in Sicily on Wednesday, when Lesley stumbled upon information about two fascinating cities that we just had to include in today’s itinerary.  The towns are not really “tourist sites” and it was quite difficult to find the old town of Gibellina.  There wasn’t too much information about the old or new city that we could find on the internet.   The story behind these sister towns is so interesting, we decided to do a separate blog about our experience.

The “Dream in Progress” is the name of the project given to the “new” village of Gibellina Nuova which was built about 11 miles away from the old Gibellina town.  The old Gibellina was destroyed by the 1968 earthquake.  The new town clearly seems to be ONLY a Dream.  It is an architectural vanguard in which many architects were involved in the designing of the buildings. The result?  A very abstract place, almost metaphysical.  We initially visited Gibellina Nuova.  There was clearly a sadness hanging over this cement city and we left quite dispirited. The city seems to be without an identity due to its deserted school, wide empty streets and many homes that appeared to be abandoned and in major disrepair.  We hardly saw a sole and there were no shops or restaurants open.  This ghost city is an open-air museum with crazy pieces of modern sculptures that were gifted from artists and adorn every piazza and road junction. The wild looking church in the center of town was surrounded by weeds and appeared to be closed down.

When the January 1968 earthquake struck, it affected 10 townships but the old Gibellina was right in the epicenter of the quake and experienced total destruction. Old Gibellina is where the largest loss of life occurred.  The citizens of old Gibellina were crowded in prefabricated buildings for over 10 years at the foot of their destroyed town while they waited for their new city to be built.  Prestigious architects, city planners and well-known artists were called in to contribute to the “Dream of Progress”.  From what we have read, the newer modern city  (with running water, unlike most of old Gibellina) was an alien place to the old Gibellina citizens.  The new Gibellina was supposedly built as a showcase for a “modern” city.

The old Gibellina was very challenging to find due to lack of signage and lack of available  GPS coordinates.  It was rather a scary drive due to many holes and big dips on the side of the road with weeds overflowing onto the narrow lane.  It felt like we were going to drive off the side of the road around every curve.  Needless to say, around every curve Lesley wanted to turn around and David loved the wild adventure.  The road was spooky and very eerie.  Upon arrival,  we were flabbergasted at what we saw; as, we initially laid eyes on the valley of old Gibellina.

The artist Alberto Burri visited Gibellina at the invitation of a fellow artist.  This visit culminated in the most incredible “artpiece”, so to speak.  The “cretto”, which is a vast labyrinth cement work of art, spreads over 29 acres and traces the streets covering the ruins of old Gibellina.  The devastation was turned into one of the largest “sculptures” in the world!  It was the most bizarre thing we have ever seen.  It was getting dark and Lesley continued to be ‘spooked” by this adventure; so, we remained in the car.  You could actually “walk the streets” of old Gibellina within this ugly concrete and white structure.  After our visit, we googled what this mass of concrete represented.   We couldn’t believe that this anonymous concrete edifice was used to commemorate the deceased kin.

This visit to both townships was a spellbinding experience and one we will not forget.