The ghost town of the Western Liguria which turned into a vibrant community of international artists in the 1970s, is a veritable open-air gallery.
We offer you not only a guided tour, but a real experience that will make you relive the life of the village that came to a halt on February 23, 1887, when a terrible earthquake destroyed an entire community, erasing nearly a thousand years of history. The village, probably of Roman origin, was founded in 1050 by the counts of Ventimiglia, who decided to build a castle here for defensive purposes against Saracen invasions.
In addition to the many crumbling houses, the bell tower of the church of Sant'Egidio, now a symbol of the village, miraculously remained standing. The few survivors of the earthquake had to abandon the crumbling hamlet and build a new locality three kilometers downstream. Bussana Nuova was thus founded.
Old Bussana turned into a ghost town for over sixty years until the 1950s, Clizia, an artist from Turin, who fell in love with the village, decided to establish here a community of artists.
We will discover together how some artists have breathed new life into a village, where the walls still tell stories of lived life and creativity.
Bussana cannot be reached by tourist buses, so we recommend a visit by Minivan or a nice walk along a mule track from Bussana Nuova.
We also recommend our trekking from San Remo to Bussana Vecchia.
