In an area marked by economic hardship, limited educational and cultural opportunities, and a lack of jobs or growth, a community of just 95 remaining residents is trying to save a small 18th-century church from being lost for good. For a village this size, saving the church is not a side project: it is close to saving the community itself.
The most urgent need is simple: the church cannot currently be used at all, because of a hole in its vaulted ceiling. Repairing it would allow the building to reopen, first as a place of worship for the community that still gathers there, and then as a venue for private religious ceremonies and cultural events such as guided tours, book presentations, art exhibitions and small concerts.
The project
The project restores the church's damaged vault, making the building safe and usable again after years of closure. Beyond the roof itself, the aim is to turn the church into a real resource for the area: a starting point for reducing the inequalities the territory faces by putting its own assets, historic buildings, landscape, nature, and its pool of young and female labour, to genuine use.
Reopening the church for cultural events and tourism is meant to ripple outward, drawing visitors to explore the wider area and increasing demand for local food and hospitality, creating real work for young people and women along the way, and helping keep alive the memory, traditions and identity of the Cicolano area.
Who the project is for
The project's direct beneficiaries are the 95 remaining residents of the hamlet, part of the wider Municipality of Pescorocchiano, made up of 28 villages in total.
Its impact reaches further, to the surrounding villages, which stand to benefit as growing tourism around the restored church draws visitors to explore other nearby places, supporting local food and hospitality businesses across the wider area.
Project name: UN BUCO NERO NEL CIELO
Proposing organisation: Sant'Antonio alle Piazze, Leofreni
Area of intervention: Environment & Sustainable Communities
Country: Italy