Tocco Caudio is a village 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 Benevento
The Province of Benevento ( it, Provincia di Benevento) is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Benevento.
Geography
The province has an area of 2,071 km2, and, , a total population of 279,308. There are 78 ...
, in the
Campania
Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...
region of 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 re ...
. The old town was abandoned after
a series of earthquakes in 1980 and 1981.
Geography
As with many ancient towns in this mountainous region of southern Italy, Tocco Caudio was built on a promontory ridge. Tocco Caudio's ridge is fairly small and somewhat isolated. This arrangement made the town easily defensible, while having ready access to ridge-top roads along which a traveller would not need to cross any rivers. Also, as was typical with
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
development, the town is fairly compact with narrow streets.
History
In 1980 and 1981, earthquakes damaged much of the old
historical center of Tocco Caudio. Rather than rebuild the historic town, the citizens were forced to completely abandon it and resettle around the ridge. Today there are essentially two Tocco Caudios: an empty
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), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
and a new town above it in a location called Friuni.
People
*
Nicola Sala
Nicola Sala (7 April 1713 – 31 August 1801) was an Italian composer and music theorist. He was born in Tocco Caudio and died in Naples. He was chapel-master and professor at Naples, having devoted himself to the collection of the finest m ...
, composer and theoretist
*
Carlo Coppolaro Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to:
*Carlo (name)
*Monte Carlo
*Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
*A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...
, composer and critic
*
Carmen Valacchio, nuclear research
References
External links
Official website
Cities and towns in Campania
Ghost towns in Italy
{{Campania-geo-stub