Underwater 'ghost village' frozen in time could soon resurface

Many structures that were built in the village of Fabbriche di Careggine remain in relatively good condition and some nearby residents hope that it could become a popular tourist destination.

A submerged ‘ghost village’ in Tuscany, Italy that dates back to the 12th century could soon resurface.

The village of Fabbriche di Careggine was founded by blacksmiths and many of the structures that were built during this period of time still remain underwater.

While residents comfortably resided in the village for centuries, they were forced to relocate to the nearby town of Vagli di Sotto when a hydroelectric dam was built in 1946. The dam provided significant amounts of energy to local regions, but it came at the expense of submerging the village and its historic structures under an artificial lake.

Local politicians have recently expressed interest in draining the lake to create job opportunities in the tourism and local employment sectors.

A submerged ‘ghost village’ in Tuscany, Italy that dates back to the 12th century could soon resurface.

Lorenza Giorgi, daughter of the former mayor of the local municipality Ilio Domenico Giorgi, shared a post on Facebook that suggested the could be drained in 2021, as reported by CNN.

"The last time it was emptied was in 1994 when my father was mayor and thanks to his efforts and to the numerous initiatives that with great efforts, was able to set up the entire town of Vagli and was able to welcome more than 1 million people," wrote Giorgi.

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Hydropower is a significant component of Italy’s energy sector and accounts for 67 per cent of all energy produced from renewable sources within the country. Italy is the 4th largest producer of hydropower in Europe and is a country that has made some of the biggest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Italy’s national carbon dioxide emissions declined by over 30 per cent from 2004-2018 and in 2019 the country will make it mandatory for children in school to receive climate change and sustainability education.

Top Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons*