Gibellina is a very special place: an open-air museum, a unique example in Italy of environmental art, a space in which architects, sculptors and painters have experimented with an outpost of the“modern,” through which to restore life and momentum to lost hopes. A new city… On January 15, 1968, a violent earthquake struck the Belice area. Gibellina, an agricultural center of medieval origin, was completely destroyed. All that was left to do was to rebuild everything. Long and difficult years passed, but eventually, just a few kilometers from the past, planning for the future began. And so it rises, the great Star, symbol of good luck and rebirth, created by Pietro Consagra: already visible from far away, it serves as the gateway to the new city. The City was born on the idea of a garden-city, made up of large streets and wide spaces, with an elliptical and centrifugal plan. Scattered almost everywhere within it are examples of modern art and architecture: the System of Squares by Thermes and Purini, Venice’s Secret Garden, Consagra’s Meeting, Quaroni’s Spherical Church, Melotti’s Counterpoint and Sequences, Franchina’s Labyrinth , Uncini’s War Memorial, Rotella’s Sculpture, and many, many more. Most famous of all, is the gigantic Cretto designed by Alberto Burri: so that time does not erase the memory of what has been, a white concrete casting, whose fissures correspond to the road layout of old Gibellina, has immortalized the past. However, the project, which was extremely interesting, suffered from a lack of consideration for the culture and habits of the population, risking transforming Gibellina into a town with surreal atmospheres. Where possible, efforts were made to recover the old buildings. And so it was done for the Case di Stefano, an old farmhouse restored by Marcella Aprile, Collovà and La Rocca. Canvases donated by great artists such as Schifano, Capogrossi, Sanfilippo, Scialoja, Corpora, Pomodoro and many others are kept inside the city museum, creating an important contemporary art collection. The Orestiadi – Each year, the Teatro dei Ruderi hosts a cycle of theatrical, musical, opera, drama, musical and visual experimentation performances that symbolize the city’s attempt at rebirth.