Italian underwater ‘ghost town’ set to resurface after 27 years

THE ‘lost’ village of Fabbriche di Careggine, in Tuscany, which was submerged underwater over 25 years ago, will re-emerge next year, according to local authorities. 

The 12th-century village was submerged in 1946 in order to build a reservoir, and it occasionally reappears when the dam is drained. This last occurred in 1994 when the dam was emptied for maintenance. 

Covered by 34 million cubic metres of water, the ancient village has remained relatively intact, and its rare reappearances have become a spectacle. A bridge, a cemetery, and San Teodoro Church can still be identified in the ruins. 

In 2015, Mario Puglia, the mayor of the neighbouring town, asked local authorities to drain the dam in a bid to boost tourism. 

The abandoned village now looks set to reappear again, as announced on Facebook by Lorenza Giorgi, daughter of the former mayor of Fabbriche di Careggine. 

“I inform you that reliable sources say that next year, in 2021, the lake of Vagli will be emptied,” she wrote.

“The last time it was emptied was in 1994 when my father was mayor and thanks to his efforts and to the numerous initiatives that with great efforts, was able to set up the entire town of Vagli and was able to welcome more than one million people,” she continued.