The village of Venzone in Italy’s mountainous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region has been named the country’s ‘most beautiful village’ for 2017—a remarkable comeback from its near-total destruction by an earthquake 40 years ago.
The town is a picture-postcard scene of winding streets, Venetian-Gothic palazzi, an imposing Gothic cathedral, 2000 residents and an annual pumpkin festival, a far cry from its appearance just after the 1976 quake, which destroyed most of the historic center, leaving only one of the town’s ancient gates standing.
The reconstruction was painstaking, including using almost all of the original stones for the Cathedral. The judges of the competition, called Borghi Belli, said that the rebuilding was a factor in their choice as it was “one of the most extraordinary examples of architectural and artistic post-earthquake recovery” and perhaps a hopeful sign for Amatrice and other villages hit by last year’s earthquakes.
For a more detailed view of the town from TheLocal.it, click HERE
