News and Events ~ January 2010

 

News from the Society:

 

Postcard from Craco circa 1960's

With the newsletter arriving during the traditional 12 days of Christmas, we have yet another opportunity to express our wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year along with wishes for the joyous feelings of the season.  And with the new year we also look forward to the plans for the Society.
Besides our annual reunion and celebration of the Feast of San Vincenzo, Martire, the key event of the year will be a return trip to Craco. The tentative plans have the trip scheduled from June 25– July 3. Although the travel agency is still finalizing flight and land arrangements, we are excited about the planned itinerary. This trip will include a weeklong stay at a farmhouse that was recently converted into a hotel. Located just outside of Pisticci, it offers an excellent location for our visits to Craco and to explore Basilicata. With the ability to host only 30 people, we encourage anyone interested in joining us to make your reservations early.  We hope to have the details finalized very shortly, and will release them to our members in a special announcement.
Certainly, there could be no better year to visit Craco with its nomination to the World Monuments Fund Watch List 2010. An important aspect behind this recognition, that was only recently learned by the Society, was the 15 year long effort by Dr. Giuseppe Lacicerchia, who is the current Mayor of the town. Aided by scientists and academics, he developed a group of stakeholders who contributed to the plan and ultimately he authored the successful proposal to the WMF. Since October, when the winning announcement was made, he has worked diligently with national and regional Italian authorities to develop a new strategy for Craco. We hope to use the newsletter in subsequent months to provide more background on the individuals and their contributions behind the long effort to aid Craco, along with providing updates about the success of Dr. Lacicerchia. So until we can meet him in person this June in Craco to express our appreciation, our best wishes are extended to him and all the others working so intensively on this restoration project for a:
                                                   HAPPY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!

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Craco: La Citta Fantasma

The Society was given access to several fantastic photographs of Craco taken by Italian photographer, Paolo Terlizzi, who found scenes of Craco both inspirational and fascinating. He was kind enough to authorize the posting of 20 photographs of the town to our website. They are  available by clicking  here ,or on the above image.
If you are interested in seeing his other work you can visit his web site:  www.paoloterlizzi.com