Towards the open-air museum of Bella
Antilia
It is a feeling that the people of Busca know well. The most curious among them will have discovered that the name Busca first appeared around the year 1000, but that the history of the town in the period immediately preceding this seems shrouded in impenetrable darkness.
What is it about?
Yet there is one name that emerges from that obscurity and has resonated insistently for centuries: Bella Antilia.
What we know for certain is that the ancient Romans established a camp in that stretch of land that extends from the foot of the hill of S. Martino towards S. Quintino, and from this a small town later developed, which in popular tales was described as a place of indescribable beauty, so much so that its memory was handed down with the name Bella Antilia.
The charm of this image of an exceptional place grew over time, despite subsequent clarifications by historians: it was honoured in folk tales, carnival masks, street names and local delicacies. It was a place described as so prosperous and flourishing that the village that arose after its disappearance was simply called buscaja (Busca). Yet nothing is known about the lives and dreams of the inhabitants of this charming town, which was probably burned down by the Saracens.
What characteristics made it so special that it gave rise to this legend? Is today's Busca really just a “buscaja trista e canaja” (sad and miserable place)? Or perhaps one day we simply began to take the beauty of these places and the ingenuity of their inhabitants for granted, to the point of believing that we had lost them?
We believe that this is precisely what happened. This is why we want to create the ‘Bella Antilia’ open-air museum: a museum without walls or ceilings, encompassing the entire Buschese area as far as Valmala, connecting and promoting its natural, cultural and human heritage, from the paths between the hills and mountains to the medieval arcades, from sanctuaries and ancient chapels to the many people and associations that enliven the city with their initiatives. Because the city you cannot see...is right before your eyes.
