The Ghost Town of Romagnano al Monte
Romagnano al Monte (Salerno), 641 m above sea level, is perched on a rocky spur overlooking the deep gorge of the Valle del fiume Bianco. Around it are high hills and steep rock faces over cliffs. The town was completely abandoned after the 1980 earthquake, while in the 1960s it had more than 600 inhabitants. The population moved to public housing that gave rise to 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 free of charge from the State proportionate to the properties they had in the old town. Only 8 years before the earthquake, the aqueduct had reached Romagnano.
Of medieval origin, Romagnano al Monte has experienced a history very similar to that of other modest mountain communities with a pastoral system, a history linked to the events and fortunes of feudal properties. At the top of the town are the remains of a wall enclosure of the baronial castle, while in the center in Piazza SS Rosario is the Town Hall and the eighteenth-century church of Madonna del Rosario.
