Far from the glamour of the Costa Esmeralda.... This is Fertilia on the north west coast of Sardinia, a model town built for migrant workers by Italy's Fascist government in the 1930s. The salt marshes that covered the area were drained and the town built to house immigrants from north east Italy (Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia).
It's a bleak place now, with many buildings boarded up and apparently abandoned.
But the layout of the centre remains, almost exactly as it was built. The church, the long straight streets fanning out from it and the arcade with cafes beneath leading to the sea front.
There's a monument there to migrants from Istria and Dalmatia who came to the town after World War Two.
It's a bleak place now, with many buildings boarded up and apparently abandoned.
But the layout of the centre remains, almost exactly as it was built. The church, the long straight streets fanning out from it and the arcade with cafes beneath leading to the sea front.
There's a monument there to migrants from Istria and Dalmatia who came to the town after World War Two.
