Colletta di

Castelbianco Castelbianco () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about southwest of Savona. Castelbianco borders the following municipalities: Arnasco, Erli, Nasino, ...

is an ancient village in the

Maritime Alps The Maritime Alps ( ; ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between the regions of France, French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and the regions of Italy, Italian regions of Piedmont and Liguria ...

and near the

Italian Riviera The Italian Riviera or Ligurian Riviera ( ; ) is the narrow coastal strip in Italy which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines. Longitudinally it extends from the border with F ...

in the

province of Savona The province of Savona (; Ligurian language, Ligurian: ''provinsa de Sann-a'') is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Savona, which has a population of 61,219 inhabitants. The province has a ...

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

, Italy. It is one of

I Borghi più belli d'Italia () is a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest, that was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities, with the a ...

("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). The village is entirely built of stone and was probably established as a defense against the

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

in the 13th century. Abandoned in the 1950s, Colletta has been the subject of a restoration project started in the 1990s operating on two levels. On one level, has been made a general restoration of the ancient settlement, respecting the original materials and building techniques (the restoration plan was developed by architect

Giancarlo De Carlo Giancarlo De Carlo (1919−2005) was an Italian architect and anarchist. He was a member of the ''Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne'' (CIAM) and became closely linked to Urbino as its town planner and creator of its master plan. Thr ...

); on another level, the village has been provided with a sophisticated technological infrastructure (the telematization project was conceived by Valerio Saggini and planned by Valerio Saggini and Stefania Belloni) which has enabled new inhabitants to benefit from the widest possible range of telecommunications resources. In this way, they are able to enjoy the peace and isolation offered by the village while staying in touch with the work environment and, more generally, with the information resources available all over the world. Thus it is possible for remote workers to live or spend time in Colletta. In 2005, the village had its first olive harvest in 30 years and is now producing small quantities of high-grade olive oil from the local taggiasca olives.

Gallery

Colletta (2).jpg, Colletta di Castelbianco Montecastelermo.jpg, Monte Castel Ermo

References

External links

*http://www.colletta.it
"Colletta di Castelbianco" Project: Rediscovering Sense of Place in the Era of the Global Village
by Valerio Saggini.

Die Zeit, 1999.08.26.

Baglioni, 1998.12.01.

by Mauro Bertagnin and Clelia Mungiguerra. "The Living Building in Europe Toward the Third Millennium", International Symposium Proceedings, Naples, October 10–11, 1997, Clean Edizioni, Napoli, 1997 {{coord, 44.1111, N, 8.0658, E, source:wikidata, display=title Italian Riviera Borghi più belli d'Italia