Explore ‘Il Grande Cretto’ in Gibellina, Sicily

Deep in central Sicily lies Il Grande Cretto; an artwork built into the natural landscape that acts as a memorial to the town of Gibellina.

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Whether you call it Cretto di Burri, Cretto di Gibellina or Il Grande Cretto, they all refer to the same piece of artwork in Western Sicily. This is the land-based sculpture/artwork commenced by Alberto Burri in 1984 and completed in 2015 and it holds a secret though the clue is in the name; The Great Crack or the Crack of Gibellina.

Where the town of Gibellina used to lie, until it was destroyed in an earthquake in 1968, Il Grande Cretto now takes its place.

Il Grande Cretto is a magnificent yet brutalist display of protest in the form of a huge wave of cement across the Sicilian mountainside. In an otherwise stunning area of countryside, it would be wrong not to take a second glance at this form of artwork. To think what on earth is that? To ask why? That I believe is the exact aim of Burri’s work here and I’m here to provide that context as well as photographs from my poignant time exploring the cracks between the concrete blocks.

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Il Grande Cretto – Gibellina

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The Town of Gibellina

Prior to 1968, the town of Gibellina was just yet another town in the mountains of Western Sicily. Dating back to medieval times, life here was centred around agriculture and became home to as many as 100,000 residents though by the 1960’s the population was only 6,000. Most of the families were poor and worked hard for a living. Sadly, everything changed for these families on the night of 14th/15th January 1968 when a massive earthquake struck and completely destroyed the town. Over 400 people died and those that were lucky to survive were left homeless.

The town of Gibellina became rubble in an instant. Lives were shattered.

Unfortunately, the government felt that it wasn’t worth rebuilding the town in its current location and therefore made the executive decision to re-build a modern town of Gibellina 20km west at a location that already had both road and train access.

Therefore, in just ten years, the new town of Gibellina was built and incorporated modern art pieces as well as a Modern Art Museum. Artists from across Italy were invited to create new pieces for the town and one of those was the famous artist, Alberto Burri.

Alberto Burri

Alberto Burri was born in 1915 in the Umbria region of Italy and began painting during his time as a prisoner of war in the USA in WWII. Channelling his experiences from the war, Burri developed his own unique style of painting in which he included the use of materials such as tar and cloth. A trip to Death Valley in USA was however the turning point for Burri with his intrigue at the way the sun’s heat created cracks in the ground. Burri began a series of works known as ‘cretto’ or cracks. By the 1980’s, Burri was a well-known artist on the international stage.

Burri was invited by the Mayor of Gibellina to produce artwork for the public but his invitation was ignored. After eventually giving in and agreeing to a tour, Burri still did not fancy adding any artwork.

However, he also visited the old ruins of Gibellina which had not been touched for over 15 years since the earthquake and almost immediately the concept was born. A land artwork in Burri’s unique style that preserve the entirety of the ruins of Gibellina.

The Artwork

Beginning in 1984, after gaining approval from locals, Burri set to work on creating the massive concrete memorial. The ‘cracks’ follow the old road system and therefore each of the blocks (around 10-20 metres on each side and 1.6 metres high) represent literal blocks of the old town. The ruins were left in place, personal possessions and all, before being covered by tonnes of cement. Gibellina’s mausoleum.

The project was not completed until 2015 and is now a place worthy of your time when visiting Sicily. We spent a few hours at Il Grande Cretto, wandering the cracks in silence and contemplating what tragedy this town had seen. The artwork is huge; 8,000 square metres of Sicilian mountainside is covered in cement. You can walk right up the hillside, up the steep embankment, to what would have been the highest point in town offering a spectacular view across the entire artwork, across miles of countryside and across to Nouvo Gibellina.

The town of Gibellina will now never be forgotten thanks to Burri’s Il Grande Cretto.

HOW TO GET TO IL GRANDE CRETTO

Il Grand Cretto is best reached by car or a full day tour as public transport doesn’t appear to come this far. The site is approximately 70km from Palermo, a 1 hour and 10 minute drive, and approximately 60km from Trapani, though the drive may take slightly longer. There are buses that go from Palermo to Nuovo Gibellina and trains from Trapani though it doesn’t look like it’s the most accessible town if you’re planning a short day trip. I would definitely recommend hiring a car if you’re looking to explore here and beyond.

WHERE NEXT?

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