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Since the 1970s, some people have bought homes in Old Cagli because they missed the piazza life, Cagli historian Lucia Braccini said.

More recently, landlords are restoring homes to rent to tourists and students, Cagli landlord Mario Fraternale said. “Tourists come to the country during the winter and students come to learn language at the Atrium and music at the Academia Lyrica,” Councilmen of Pesaro and Urbino Ing. Italo Grilli said, he doesn’t know how many homes have been restored since he inventoried Cagli’s home ownership in the 1970s.

That has since changed. Instead, more and more people are restoring homes in Old Cagli.

 
Several cranes dot the horizon in and around Cagli.

The construction is visible around Cagli. The cobblestorne streets are currently a maze of scaffolding, construction trucks, and workers. Most home exteriors are getting their first face lift since World War II. One catalyst for this reconstruction was the recent earthquake of 1997. However long before this damage, homes had been abandoned by their Cagliese, British, and French owners. Not only did vacation homes become homes for dust, moths, and the like, but permanent Cagliese owners abandoned their lives in Old Cagli to build a new community next door, forming New Cagli.

Reconstruction work is being completed in the center of town, the Piazza Matteotti.
     
 

After Worl d War II, there was very little reconstruction done in Cagli. In the 1960s, Cagli had an economic boom which promoted any sort of permanent change in housing exterior or interiors.

There was also very limited reconstruction of damaged or old homes. During the 1960s and 1970s, the government gave Cagliese citizens affected by the war grants to build small, economical homes.. At this point, many families in Old Cagli abandoned their homes and relocated to New Cagli. Homes there were not architectural beauties but remained “just a place to sleep,” said Lucia.


In the 1970s, Caligese returned to Old Cagli for the “stability of stores, rent, and community,” said Ing. Italo Grillo. But in the 1990s, restoration of homes was done to attract tourists to the historical appeal of Old Cagli. Mario and Eriberta Fraternale (Video) have restored two properties to rent to tourists and students. In 1994, they opened their first restored rural house, the Torre di Sasso.

In 2002, they opened Casa Lapis, a newly restored apartment in Old Cagli. Construction on Casa Lapis was begun by their daughter Carlota. They expanded the upstairs apartments from three larger to five smaller apartments and converted the two garages to apartments.

 

Reconstruction, surrounding ancient medieval structures, is an everyday part of life for the Cagliesi.
Construction workers, high in the scaffolding around the buildings, are a frequent sight around Cagli.

They said they are the first people to have done reconstruction of this kind on a a private home. Their goal is to market Cagli not as a tourist city but as a vacation destination of historical antiquity.

They currently use word-of-mouth advertisment, brochures, and an internet site to attract renters. Since opening in 1994, they have had heavy occupancy days of occupied rental days in their two locations. They have housed families from all around the world, including England, Belgium, Denmark, United States, New Zealand, and Austria.

Mario Fraternale said, “It is important to continuethis type of restoration because it is a value to the city. Everything in Cagli is connected because it will eventually increase the wealth of the city. It also improves the stability and the community of Cagli. When people come, everything changes…the piazza is filled with the young…brings life to Cagli.”

 

 

 

 

Photo by:

Victoria Woods

Video by:

Alexis Turro

Web Design by:

Melissa Lane