I did it. I finally did it. I visited Il Cretto di Burri, Europe’s (and maybe the world’s) largest land art work in the western Sicily countryside. And I specify on, not in, because this works of art by artist Alberto Burri sits atop the streets of Gibellina, a small town destroyed by an earthquake.
One early morning on a drive from Menfi to Palermo Airport, I decided to take the turn from the highway and head to Gibellina for a slightly out-of-the way art experience - a walk through il Cretto di Burri, the massive site specific art work covering 85,000 square meters.
From a distance, il Cretto looks like the remnants of a drought, a whitewashed expanse with cracks and fissures butting up next to an abandoned building. Something that you might wherever you travel in the Sicilian countryside. Getting closer, the Cretto becomes more … concrete. And I write this both figuratively and literally.
What Exactly Is The Cretto?
Burri’s Cretto is the immortalization of devastation. In 1968, the Belice Earthquake shook Sicily and flattened the town of Gibellina. The town was abandoned and thousands of people were displaced. By 1981 nothing had changed. The city was still in rubble when Burri visited. He was so shook that he began a monumental project that would not be completed until 2015, after his death.
Burri’s idea was to immortalise the town and memorialise the tragedy by transform its ruins into a vast expanse of whitewashed concrete slabs. Burri transformed the rubble into sculpture. He compressed the detritus, encasing it in concrete and placed the thick slabs along the exact plan of every road in Gibellina.
Walking around the Cretto is both a somber and beautiful experience. This cement labyrinth has chunky walls almost 6 feet in height. If I looked from the bird’s eye view, I’d see a rectangular painting of Burri’s signature craquelure but from the ground, the Cretto is nothing but colossal culpture and memorial. The white concrete slabs are chunky and almost suffocating. In fact, as I walked around, I had the feeling I was a walking through a modern and very surreal Pompeii.
How To Cretto
Search Cretto Burri in Google Maps and it will geolocate you to Strada Provinciale Gibellina, a turn off from A29 motorway- an hour drive from Palermo if you’re headed south or a 90 minute drive north on the SS115 from Agrigento. This is one of those utterly out of place location that is worth the turn off.
As soon as you see it, you’ll want to pull over and explore, but trust me, the best views are from the higher ground. You can walk your way up like I did. I entered from the lower ground, and headed straight to the top where I met the local gardeners who are battling not just the weeds but the city and the foundation as they try to get funding.
Save this post for your next Sicily visit and if you want to explore of my favorite place in the whole world, visit ciaobella.
Holy cow! I didn't know this even existed. Looks incredible. Sicily is such a special place I know I will visit eventually. Awesome read thanks for sharing!