Bussana

Bussana from ghost town to artists' village.

To visit the parish church, it still maintains the signs of a sober but refined beauty despite the damage of the earthquake. The same goes for the oratory of Giovanni Battista which housed a precious birth of St. John the Baptist by the painter Mattia Preti. After a terrified earthquake, Bussana becomes a ghost town, populated by cats and by the ghosts of a tragedy. But in 1977 a community of artists was created who occupied the village with their paintings. The town is populated with workshops and craft shops. Worth a visit is the "garden among the ruins," a splendid series of terraces full of beautiful succulent plants. ”That appears before you

History

On a hill behind Sanremo there is a small village, that of Bussana Vecchia, where art can be breathed in every corner. Distinguished by a violent earthquake at the end of the 19th century, this town gradually emptied itself and was reborn in the 1950s thanks to a group of artists, philosophers and artisans who renovated the ancient houses built around the castle, transforming them into their residences and in artistic studies.This curious Ligurian locality is traced back to the Roman era, between Lombard and Saracen invasions, and only after the settlement of the Counts of Ventimiglia, that Bussana began to transform, hosting a castle and new peasant houses built around walking among the ancient houses of the village, you can still see the ruins of the manor and imagine the life of that time.

Curiosity

A violent earthquake in 1887 destroyed a large part of the locality, the inhabitants therefore decided to abandon their homes, start their life again elsewhere. For many years Bussana Vecchia was therefore without inhabitants, becoming a ghost town. between recovered and restored places, the artists' village was born in Bussana, the village takes on new life, enriching itself with ateliers, small taverns and shops. thus a small community is formed, which, even today, struggles against bureaucracy to keep the dream of this ancient village.

To be seen

Walking through Bussana Vecchia is a real experience for those with an artistic soul and those looking for new, fascinating, but little-known destinations. It is worth going to the Church of Sant'Egidio to admire its remains. ancient stuccos and decorations. it only takes a few hours to tour the whole village and admire the ancient recovered ruins.Walking through the streets of this ancient village, among flowers and vines that frame the ancient stone houses, it is easy to come across ARTISTIC TOUCHES, such as paintings, murals, colored chairs hung on the wall, transformed into flower boxes or statues set in the walls. Even the artists' workshops are small restored jewels in which to lose hours and hours to discover sculptures, carved objects and unique creations that can only be found here.