The Ghost Town of Romagnano al Monte
Romagnano al Monte (Salerno), 641 meters above sea level, is perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the deep gorge of the Valle del fiume Bianco. Around it are high peaks and steep rock walls on cliffs. The village was completely abandoned after the 1980 earthquake, while in the 1960s it counted more than 600 inhabitants. The population moved to public housing that formed Romagnano Nuovo, not far from the old settlement.
In the days following the earthquake, the inhabitants moved to a tent camp (Romagnano Nuovo) about 1 km from Buccino and currently reside there after receiving small plots of land for free from the State, proportionally to the properties they had in the old village. Only 8 years before the earthquake did Romagnano get its aqueduct.
Of medieval origin, Romagnano al Monte has had a history very similar to other modest mountain pastoral settlements, a history linked to the fortunes and events of feudal properties. At the top of the village are the remains of the walls of the baronial castle, while in the center, in Piazza SS Rosario, there is the town hall and the 18th-century church of Madonna del Rosario.
