Sometimes there are towns that surprise you unexpectedly. They do not appear in “most beautiful village” awards nor in the suggested destinations of travel blogs. However, they leave you the feeling to have discovered a special place; they leave you something, a new story to tell, and the memory of people that have taken a liking to you right away.
In Grammichele, a 12 thousand inhabitants in Catania province, a great earthquake was the promotor of a peculiar architectural experiment.
A “fossil” village is located a few miles out of town, with rubble scattered on the ground and covering everything that was: buildings, corpses, and memories. This village was the old Grammichele and was called Occhiolà, a nearly 3 thousand people center destroyed in 1693 and never rebuilt. Between January 9th and 11th of that year, a number of seismic events turned it into a pile of rubble.
Walking through what’s left of it you can smell a scent of abandonment in the air. A town built in a stronghold position, like San Marino, was turned into rows of stones among which grow Artemisia, Ferula plants and Peruvian pepper trees.
How was it like, we happened to think, to witness such a disaster? Within just a few hours, looking at the village you used to call home and seeing buildings collapsed, springs desiccated, animals gone mad. How many bodies still lying under the rubble?
We visited this archeological site with Loredana Fragapane, president of the local branch of SiciliAntica and of association Archetipo. With fervor and enthusiasm she tells visitors the story of this place.
In the days following the earthquake, Occhiolà’s residents asked for help from the prince of that land, Carlo Maria Carafa Branciforte.
The prince was a wise and erudite sovereign. He responded to Occhiolà’s requests for help donating some land to build a new town on flat ground, a few miles away. He instructed the architect Michele da Ferla to design it with hexagonal planning, in part inspired by a search of perfection based on number 6. The town was divided into six sectors by six roads. Large squares ensured that inhabitants could gather in collecting areas in case of earthquakes.
In Grammichele’s details there are multiple references to the subjects that were of interest to the prince. Maths, astronomy and, according to some, esotericism. There are several aficionados who interpreted the symbols hidden in the plan of the town. Look that up on google. There are even some who see the Holy Grail in it.
Grammichele, along with Avola and Palmanova, are among the rare examples of hexagonal towns in the world. This example shows how geology, throughout human history, wasn’t just a source of destruction, but also a boost to rebuild and renovate.
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