>Bussana Vecchia (Old Bussana) is a small ghost town in Liguria (Italy), not so far from the Italian-French border. It was built (IX sec.) on the top of a hill to be easily defended by Saracens. Like many other villages in the area it experienced periods of ups and downs, without ever becoming famous for a particular reason.
The reason why today is known is linked to the tremendous earthquake occured on February 23, 1887: at 6:21 AM a twenty second earth tremor caused destruction and deaths (at least 2000 people).
As a consequence of this tragedy, local authorities decided to rebuild the village, called Bussana Nuova (New Bussana), in a new site, a couple of kilometers downstream.
After the WW2, immigrants and displaced persons coming from Southern Italy started illegally settling the Old town. Despite...

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