Fontecchio!

Fontecchio! Our group has stayed in Fontecchio for a few days, Fontecchio is a fascinating village surrounded by mountains. While exploring, I noticed that the village is very quiet, and people often describe it as a ghost town. Walking down the street, I observed that houses are all close to each other and the streets are narrow. Also, there are construction workers who are building around the area, most likely reconstruction due to the earthquake damage which occurred in 2009. Slowly, the village is being rebuilt. One of the questions you might be wondering is who is paying for all the earthquake recovery. The Italian government is funding the reconstruction of the village, but it is progressing slowly. Alessio, our fantastic Italian friend, and tour guide, mentioned that it can take up to twenty years to rebuild the damage to the buildings after an earthquake. Another interesting fact Alessio noted is that people in the village are not allowed to sign up their own private contractors for reconstruction, although they might wish to do so in order to speed up the process.

Why is  Fontecchio so quiet?! The low population number and lack of community is another issue Alessio mentioned during our visit. The younger generation tends to move away from Fontecchio, mainly due to the lack of a city lifestyle, which they seem to prefer.  As an example, a student may travel to Roma to attend a university and once this student graduates, he or she decides to continue living there, and not move back to Fontecchio. The entire village population is 400!  To improve the situation of younger people not wishing to remain in Fontecchio, the government has encouraged them to start their own businesses there, and to build on their local identity. Offering more options for housing may be another option to attract younger residents to return or remain in the small village. On our last night in Fontecchio, we had an opportunity to join the local bonfire celebration. I was able to interact with some friendly people who live in the village, and we shared some of our life stories with each other. A number of students were able to visit the home of Julian, a local resident.  We asked him questions about his life in Fontecchio, and he also shared with us his experience of the earthquake in 2009 and what happened to his house. It was an honor to meet Julian and learn about his experiences living in Fontecchio.

My article explained the importance of heritage in a location, especially the preservation and adaptation of a built heritage. On this trip, we have seen many examples of built heritages including medieval churches, castles, and caves. In the economics of point of view, built heritage can bring richness and make a profit for a country. This can be true if the built heritage is internationally recognized and valued,  which can result in visitors who come from all over the world to view the building or site. The tourism that results is clearly beneficial for a region's  finances.  However, in Italy there are so many examples of built heritage that not everything can be preserved or open to visitors. Preservation costs to maintain the original form of the building are very high, and also the site will require ongoing finances for maintenance. There are a large number of built heritage goods in the places we have traveled, although not everything is preserved. Still, I can clearly view the heritage and culture in Italy.  In my opinion, people of  Italy have done a remarkable job in preserving and maintaining many of the built heritages that are valuable to them,  and I have been fortunate to able to see a medieval castle, churches 
and caves in Fontecchio.