Bajardo

Bajardo is a municipality with 323 inhabitants (as at 31 December 2012) in the Italian province of Imperia in Liguria. In the vicinity of the only noteworthy DOC red wine of Liguria also grown - Rossese of Dolce Acqua.

History

The historic center of the mountain village Bajardos has existed since the first millennium BC. Since then Bajardo has a checkered history.

Worship of the Druids

Before the Romans came in order to exploit it, the top of the mountain served as a druid shrine. Some of the historic stone obelisks have been preserved over the millennia.

In place of the shrine was later built a castle that served as protection for the surrounding village. Then a part of this castle castle was replaced by a church in the 7th century.

Towards the end of the last century, in 1887, about a hundred farmers gathered under the arches of the church, to celebrate Ash Wednesday, before they wanted to go into the fields to order this. However, it never came. During the service, the mountains were shaken by a massive earthquake and more than a hundred people died when the roof of the church collapsed.

After the earthquake, most people left their homes on the upper slope, although these were not destroyed and were further again below it down. But not all. A medieval house was bought in the thirties by a family of musicians west of the church on the edge of a terraced cliff.

The Second World War and the decline

The nation was divided into three camps. The fascists, the partisans, who fought against the fascists, and the Independents, who wanted to take sides. The region around Bajardo was a bastion of the partisans with extremely violent activities. The family of musicians just took note of their musical instruments and their musical life, trying the war around him to ignore. At least until 1944, was after a series of threats, forced to leave their house in the middle of the night.

Attempts in the last twenty years to try the local policy to preserve the genuine antiquity Bajardos from final ruin, was abandoned.

Although many houses are still standing today. But the windows are now broken, the colors and the cleaning of the facades from leaves. Wild wine has grown over the stone and the terraced mountainside. But the walls that have kept the houses since the 14th century, have remained fixed. Tourism has left the village practically untouched.

The rediscovery Bajardos

Thanks to the initiative of the administration and the municipal council, the village is restored.

The remaining walls of the church was preserved to prevent further damage. The top of the mountain is inhabited sporadically again and still existing house remains to be restored or recovered.

Demography

The population development of Bajardo is characterized by a sharp decline since 1911. 1911 were still alive in 1582 people in the town and in 2005 there were only 278 - this corresponds to a decrease of over 80 %.