Sun in the Canyon
Time for more light-hearted posts! As some of you know, our family hotel is literally at the bottom of the Todra Gorge, where the canyon walls go up 300 meters above our heads. In the summer, we get lots of sun, but in the winter, brrr! I just read that a town in Italy found a solution:
Viganella, with a population of less than 200, lies in a valley so steep that each year from November 11 to February 2 it hardly receives any sunshine.
That was until Mayor Pierfranco Midali decided to do something about it.
Now a 5-metre high, 8-metre wide mirror tracks the sun’s movement and reflects its rays into Viganella’s historic piazza.
The mirror, which cost around 100,000 euros was unveiled on Sunday to the delight of the inhabitants.
“Here it’s very cold in the winter and residents, many of whom are elderly, used to stay inside all the time. Now people are enjoying sitting on the bench in the square and having a chat,” said Maria Velona, who works at the townhall.
Midali has been contacted by local authorities with similar problems in Canada, the United States and France.
