Hidden into the fields, left to themselves, these huge houses, once real factories that every season gave work to many people, now lie abandoned. Can not be compared to the majestic noble villas decorated with stucco, friezes and leaves of gold, but they are interesting, full of history, sweat, laughter and tears. I decided to talk about these places cause I started my career as an explorer from this kind of structures, that in my region are numerous.
After five years since my first visit, I decided to return to greet “The Queens“. I was surprised to find them still there, intact, surrounded by vast fields, although some object has disappeared or has decided, perhaps out of boredom, to move into the next room, there are still bottles of wine in the kitchen, other than home- made grappa “for Gino” says a yellowed label, dishes, old blankets, toys, bicycles and cages for chickens. In a room, with surprise, I find an old gravestone and I discover that the last owner of the house was a teacher.
Moisture and time have slowly begun to chip away at the walls, and somewhere appeared old frescoes. In the cellar there are still giant wooden barrels that smell like vinegar and mold, a child stroller, a beam of light illuminates the ground with a piece of crumpled paper. Curious, I decided to pick it up and I realize that it was a letter: “Dear Antonio, all right at home? how’s Grandma? I have not write you before because I worked so hard and I had some health problems, the doctor said that I’m better now, also greets you ……… ” then the letter is interrupted, with no date. Every corner exudes memories, and over the years the rooms where once people got together to talk, to share a meal after a long day of work, have fallen in silence, through old barrels of herbicides and piles of fruit boxes.
Years passed, but these old Queens are there on their throne, with the rusty crown and the worn dress, but still fairs and austere.
Alberto Grima
Born in 1980, he is a crazy and playful semiprofessional photographer. Explore since his childhood, from 2009 he began to visit also other regions to report abandoned buildings.
