Craco (Cràchë in the local dialect) is an Italian town of 630 inhabitants [1] in the province of Matera in Basilicata.
In 1963, the historic center began to undergo depopulation due to a landslide which, in the early 1980s, made it a real ghost town. This phenomenon has contributed to making the town of Craco special, which, due to this characteristic, has become a tourist destination, as well as a coveted film set. The historic center of Craco is located in the hilly area that precedes the Lucanian Apennines at about 390 m a.s.l., halfway between the mountains and the sea, in the central-western part of the province. The territory is varied, with a predominance of gullies, deep furrows dug in a clay soil by the descent into the valley of the rainwater. In the sixties the historic center was emptied following a landslide that made it a real ghost town. Part of the inhabitants moved downstream, in the locality of "Craco Peschiera", where the municipal seat was also transferred. At that time the center had almost 2000 inhabitants. The landslide that forced the population to abandon their homes seems to have been caused by infrastructure works, sewers and water networks, serving the town. In 1972 a flood worsened the situation further, preventing any repopulation of the historic center and, after the 1980 earthquake, Craco vecchia was completely abandoned. To evaluate any earthquake movements, given the area with a high seismic risk and above all to notify other movements of the landslide, some sensors were positioned. To date, the same people have highlighted that the center is in conditions of stability. Despite this forced exodus, Craco has remained intact, turning into a ghost town. In 2010, the village entered the list of monuments to be protected drawn up by the World Monuments Fund. [18]
The municipality, in the implementation of a recovery plan for the village, has established, since the spring of 2011, a guided tour, along a route made safe, which allows you to travel along the main street of the village, up to the one that remains of the old main square, which collapsed following the landslide. In December 2012, a new itinerary was inaugurated, which allows you to enter the core of the ghost town.