Gairo Vecchio: The Ghost Village Flooded Four Times
In the Ogliastra region lies one of Sardinia's most striking ghost villages – a place that survived four major landslides before finally being abandoned for good.
An unfavourable location from the start
Gairo Vecchio was built on the slope of the Trunconi hill – a site that soon proved unstable. Between 1880 and 1951, repeated landslides caused houses to collapse and sink.
The decisive landslide of 1951
After several days of heavy rain, 1951 brought the worst and last major landslide. After that, life in the old village was no longer possible, and the remaining residents left the place for good in the following years.
Visiting today
The ruins of Gairo Vecchio are freely accessible and can be explored on foot – a quiet, unusual contrast to the island's lively coastal towns, and easy to combine with a trip into the nearby Supramonte.