Reviving an earthquake-hit medieval Italian village - in pictures

Santo Stefano di Sessanio in L’Aquila province, Abruzzo, was largely abandoned after many of its ancient buildings were left in ruins by earthquakes. Now, many of them have been restored and the village and surrounding areas, located in the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga national park, are becoming popular with tourists

Siegfried Modola/Reuters


  • A metal frame support is all that is left of the Medici Tower after a 2009 earthquake that hit Santo Stefano di Sessanio in the Abruzzo region of southern Italy
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    A metal frame support is all that was left of the Medici Tower after the 2009 earthquake hit Santo Stefano di Sessanio


  • The streets are mainly empty, except for tourists admiring the architecture and surrounding hills
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    The streets are mainly empty, except for tourists admiring the architecture and surrounding hills


  • Santo Stefano has just 108 inhabitants, less than a 10th of its population before the first world war, according to its mayor, Fabio Santavicca, pictured in his town hall office
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    Santo Stefano has just 108 inhabitants, less than a tenth of its pre-World War One population, according to Mayor Fabio Santavicca, pictured in his town hall office


  • Ginevra, 10, and her younger brother Giulio Cesare play with their horses at the family farm
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    Ginevra, 10, and her younger brother Giulio Cesare play with their horses at the family farm


  • Nuns walk up to the entrance of a church in nearby Castel del Monte
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    Nuns walk up to the entrance of a church in nearby Castel del Monte


  • Rocca Calascio, a mountaintop fortress near Santo Stefano that was damaged by an earthquake in 1461, lays abandoned
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    Rocca Calascio, a mountaintop fortress that was damaged by an earthquake in 1461, lays abandoned near to Santo Stefano


  • Santo Stefano survived for centuries off agriculture and wool. But like many surrounding villages, most residents left for work in cities or abroad, leaving it all but abandoned after the collapse of its wool industry
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    Santo Stefano survived for centuries off agriculture and wool but like many surrounding villages, most residents left for work in cities or abroad, leaving it all but abandoned after the collapse of its wool-making industry


  • Poverty and natural disasters in the active earthquake area also drove people away
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    Poverty and natural disasters in the active earthquake area also drove people away


  • While it still has shepherds and farmers, today Santo Stefano is being revived through tourism, with residents seeking to draw visitors to the surrounding Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga national park
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    While it still has shepherds and farmers, today Santo Stefano is being revived through tourism, with residents seeking to draw visitors to the surrounding Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga national park


  • The village now has around a dozen tourist lodgings and, according to the most recently available figures from the regional tourism department, it had 4,361 visitors in 2013 compared with just 900 in 2005
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    The village now has around a dozen tourist lodgings and according to the most recently available hospitality figures from the regional tourism department, the village saw 4,361 visitor arrivals in 2013 versus 900 in 2005


  • One of the village’s inhabitants, 90-year-old Aida Cicci Cardelli, cooks for a birthday dinner
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    One of the village’s inhabitants, 90-year-old Aida Cicci Cardelli cooks for a birthday dinner


  • Santa Maria della Pietà, an octagonal church built in the 17th century in Rocca Calascio
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    Santa Maria della Pietà, an octagonal church built in the 17th century in the nearby small town of Rocca Calascio


  • Thick straps are tied around an earthquake-damaged building in the nearby town of Castelvecchio Calvisio to help prevent further collapse
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    Thick straps are tied around an earthquake-damaged building in the nearby town of Castelvecchio Calvisio to help prevent further collapse


  • A woman burns incense during a religious procession held every year to bless the region’s shepherds
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    A woman burns incense during a religious procession held every year to bless the region’s shepherds


  • Luca Cucchiella looks at historical frescoes on the ceiling of a room in his family’s house in in Santo Stefano. The property is undergoing restoration after being damaged during the 2009 earthquake
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    Luca Cucchiella looks at historical frescoes on the ceiling of a room in his family’s house in in Santo Stefano. The property is undergoing restoration after being damaged during the 2009 earthquake


  • A priest conducts Sunday mass in the church
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    A priest conducts Sunday mass in the church


  • One of the medieval buildings near the old centre of Castelvecchio Calvisio
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    One of the medieval buildings near the old centre of Castelvecchio Calvisio


  • Swedish-Italian entrepreneur Daniele Kihlgren bought several houses in Santo Stefano and turned them in to hotel rooms. His project has drawn tourists and injected life back into the village, according to locals
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    Swedish-Italian entrepreneur Daniele Kihlgren who bought several houses in Santo Stefano and turned them in to hotel rooms. The project has drawn tourists and injected life back into the village, according to locals


  • Residents and tourists enjoy an evening meal at an annual fair organised to boost the local economy
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    Locals and tourists enjoy an evening meal at an annual fair organised to boost the economy