This abandoned village in western Sicily is one of a number of farmers’ villages (borghi rurali) built at the instruction of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Known as Borgo Amerigo Fazio, the village was built in 1939—only a few years before the end of Italy’s fascist regime. The idea was to create a design with clear structures: church, school, administration buildings, police, and public health offices in the center, surrounded by private residences. Mussolini believed that if the amenities of a city were available in the countryside, people would choose to remain…
