GIBELLINA NUOVA

On our way back to town on Sunday we went by new Gibellina and decided to go in and take another look around. This is the town that was built after the 1968 Belice Valley earthquake that killed hundreds and left thousands homeless in our area. They say there was little input by the locals as to the design of the place so it looks like a ghost town much of the time. But on this father’s day Sunday, we saw many people around and some even walking their “passagieta” in the piazzas.
Old Gibellina is also a place I have reported on before as one of the spookiest places in Sicily, having been covered over with “a great sheet of concrete” as it says in the guidebooks, cementing over the ruins of the towns and some say, with the fallen bodies still in place under it. The town is supposed to be an artistic monument built by the artist Alberto Burri, and it is called the cretto di Burri.
New Gibellina has artistic pretensions and some important modern day Italian artists worked to create many sculptures and buildings that make this town different from any in our area. There are piazzas everywhere, wide streets, newish buildings with back and front lots, and museums and public buildings. One of the places we had not seen before in our wanderings through the area is the headquarters for a series of shows and drama events that take place every other September, the Orestiadi. We have read about these events, but unfortunately have not attended, as we are usually just coming back from the states at this time. From a distance, you see buildings against a picturesque hillside, but as you drive the winding approach, you begin to see an incredible cement pile with horses rising out of it, is reminiscent of Burri’s cretto. I got the chills just looking at it!
We have “seen” many towns in Sicily in our sightseeing trips, but just as Sciacca always yields surprises up to us, we know there is always something new to see. I’m glad we got to see the upper part of town on this drive through because it looks interesting enough to return to again. The picture of old Gibellina is from one of the many times we have gone back to see that site, often with other people.