FAIRYTALES COME TRUE
Italy's Ministry of Culture has embarked on an ambitious scheme to inject new life into some of the country's many Borghi (historic old towns) suffering from depopulation and neglect. 21 pilot projects, with funding of 20 million euro each, have been chosen for this far-reaching experiment, which, along with recent social changes such as increases in home-working due to Covid, is expected to revitalize a number of the 300 borghi officially recognized out of an estimated total of 6,000.
Meanwhile, however, a few borghi have gone ahead and are re-inventing themselves. An impressive case is Sant'Angelo di Roccalvecce, a charming hamlet of some 130 souls near the town of Viterbo (Lazio) which launched its own project to transform it into “the Village of Fairytales”. A group of gifted street artists have decorated the walls of streets and houses with gigantic scenes of the world's most popular children's stories.
The project began with a mural of “Alice in Wonderland” in which the artist Tina Loiodice marked the date of the start of the project (November 2017) by setting the White Rabbit's watch at 11/17. Since then, other artists have added their contributions to create a total 21 scenes that enliven the winding old alleys and are attracting an increasing number of visitors.
Info: Tel. +39. 331.8184771 www.comune.viterbo.it
facebook: sant'angelo di roccalvecce
