THE SMALL VILLAGE OF THE MURALES

If you are crossed by the desire to take back the management of your time, to abandon the hectic city center, for the human need to live in more “quiet” places (at least for the holidays), less congested by traffic, free from chaotic rhythms and exasperating typical of the great centers, and last but not least, to get rid of the hassle of late and “fantozziana” memory races, I have what it does for you.

Try to imagine a village inhabited by a few hundred souls, immersed in the green hills of the Cilento National Park, Vallo di Diano and Alburni, crossed by a myriad of alleys, through which clocks and calendars appear useless or, at least relative, because depending on the smell of the air the period of the year in which you are present is immediately understood. Imagine, still, the classic old fountain, where only the flowing of water modifies a motionless scenario for centuries, flints whose stones polished by the life of generations of peasants could dictate rivers of stories and finally try to imagine its inhabitants, people simple that still manages to preserve an admirable hospitality.

At this point in the dreamlike journey with your eyes open, you could say with reason, that there is nothing extraordinary and the most logical statement would be “a village like many others”.

Consequently, to make your imaginary village unique and extraordinary, we run for cover with an extra touch of fantasy.

Imagine, then, the walls of its houses adorned with splendid murals depicting the most varied subjects and themes: starting from fairy-tale characters, continuing with the signs of the zodiac and scenes of everyday rural life, passing through magical rites, to get to the game of life (bigger fish, eat the smaller), to the exasperated and disconcerting cynicism of our time. In other words, a town whose walls together preserve everyone’s fears and dreams, allowing us, with a walk, to intensely relive some moments of our life through those particular memories that scholars love to define “total memories”.

Once back to reality if you have not managed to visualize everything, perhaps due to an overly rational nature, there is another possibility to admire the land of murals.

You need to have a camera and a camera (even a smartphone or tablet), take your car and go to Piano Vetrale (part of the Municipality of Orria-SA-), a small town in the upper Cilento, easily reachable from either Agropoli is from Sapri, within a few minutes (the exit from the Variante to SS. 18 is Omignano Scalo).

As soon as you arrive you will realize that the “Land of Murals” really exists

Massimo Sica

ph.: Gianfranco Vitolo