Poggioreale ( Sicilian: ''Poggiuriali'') is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Trapani Trapani ( it, Provincia di Trapani, scn, Pruvincia di Tràpani; officially ''Libero consorzio comunale di Trapani'') is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, southern Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilian provinces, it ...

, western

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, located in the

Belice The Belice, , is a river of western Sicily. It is about long. From its main source near Piana degli Albanesi it runs south and west for as the Belice Destro ("right Belice") until it is joined near Poggioreale by its secondary branch, the Be ...

valley. The Economy was mostly based on agriculture and fruit cultivation. Earthquake: The Belice Valley earthquake destroyed the entire town of Poggioreale and killed 200 people in 1968. Eventually the town was rebuilt in a safer place a few kilometers south. Some of the families moved to the USA, according to a CNN article. Mayor Girolamo Cangelosi wants to bring Poggioreale back to its former glory. Some of the former residents and their families have been on organized tours of Poggioreale. They reunited using social media and the internet. According to the New York Post, Sicilians call it their modern Pompeii. Unfortunately Mayor Girolamo Cangelosi was seriously injured in an auto accident. It remains unclear what effect this may have upon his reconstruction efforts.

References

Municipalities of the Province of Trapani Destroyed towns {{Sicily-geo-stub