Tocco Caudio

Tocco Caudio is a village and comune in the province of Benevento, in the Campania region of southern Italy. The old town was abandoned after a series of earthquakes in 1980 and 1981.

Tocco Caudio
Comune
Comune di Tocco Caudio
Coat of arms
Location of Tocco Caudio
Tocco Caudio Location of Tocco Caudio in Italy Show map of Italy Tocco Caudio Tocco Caudio (Campania) Show map of Campania
Coordinates: 41°8′N 14°38′E
Country	Italy
Region	Campania
Province	Benevento (BN)
Government
• Mayor	Gennaro Caporaso
Area [1]
• Total	27.2 km2 (10.5 sq mi)
Elevation	540 m (1,770 ft)
Population  (1 January 2017)[2]
• Total	1,534
• Density	56/km2 (150/sq mi)
Demonym	Tocchesi
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	82030
Dialing code	0824
Patron saint	Saints Cosmas and Damian
Saint day	27 September
Website	Official website

Geography

People explore the ghost town.

As with many ancient Longobard towns in this mountainous region of southern Italy, Tocco Caudio was built on a promontory ridge. Tocco Caudio's ridge is fairly small and somewhat isolated. This arrangement made the town easily defensible, while having ready access to ridge-top roads along which a traveller would not need to cross any rivers. Also, as was typical with medieval development, the town is fairly compact with narrow streets.

History

In 1962, 1980 and 1981, earthquakes damaged much of the old historical center of Tocco Caudio. Rather than attempt to rebuild the historic town, the citizens opted to completely abandon it and resettle around the ridge. Today there are essentially two Tocco Caudio: an empty ghost town and a new relocated town aside, in a location called Friuni.

People

• Nicola Sala, composer and theoretist
• Carlo Coppolaro, composer and critic
• Carmen Valacchio, nuclear research