But Roscigno is not a ghost town; its paths are walked daily by farmers working in the fields, and the houses in better condition have been converted into tool sheds and animal stables; the square is still a gathering and meeting point for many of the old residents, and the air is filled with the connection people have to their ancient village.
All of this is extremely charming and interesting for visitors: the traumatic history, forced relocations, functional transformations of the houses, traditional ways of life and work are reflected in the unique urban layout, in the doorways, windows, iron balconies, wooden floors, and stone masonry.
Roscigno Vecchia has therefore become a spontaneous museum that collects various layers of historical documentation; it is not simply a place where objects are preserved or a museum of artworks or natural history: it is a “museum-town,” an open space not confined within four walls, where the only boundary is the surrounding countryside; a museum open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, a place for reflection where one breathes an atmosphere linked to the biological rhythms of nature. For the scholar, Roscigno is a “global document” of social history, but above all it is an exceptional open-air cultural research laboratory.
