Underwater ‘ghost town’ could reappear next year
Amedieval ‘ghost town’ may soon emerge from the bottom of a lake in Tuscany. It could be the first time that the ruined village has seen the light of day in more than 25 years. This Italian Atlantis is known as Fabbriche di Careggine, a 12th-century town that was once home to about 150 residents, 31 houses and a stout stone church. In 1946 it met its end when Italian energy company Enel built a hydroelectric dam in the surrounding valley. The inhabitants were moved to a nearby village, Fabbriche di Careggine was flooded and the new artificial Lake Vagli was born. In the 75 years that the town has sat on the lake’s bottom, curious visitors have had four chances to walk among its ancient, water-weathered stones – in 1958, 1974, 1983 and 1994 – when Lake Vagli was drained for dam maintenance, and it may soon be drained again. The Enel energy company recently mentioned that it was beginning to discuss a potential lake draining with local municipalities, both as an opportunity to clean the Lake Vagli reservoir and to boost tourism in the area. As you might suspect, the exciting prospect of visiting a medieval ghost town briefly resurrected from the mighty deep has drawn considerable crowds over the years. During the several months that Lake Vagli was drained in 1994, roughly 1 million tourists visited the resurfaced Fabbriche di Careggine.