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An Italian town that built its own sun (2021)

Surrounded by mountains and left in the dark for three months a year, a town in northern Italy has found a creative solution to its sunlight problem.

Clinging to the side of a steep valley and surrounded by mountains that block the sun’s rays, Viganella is deprived of sunlight every year from November until February. In 2008, local residents tried asking the Icelandic government to move the national clocks forward by two hours in the summer so that they could enjoy a bit of sun after work, but so far their pleading has been unsuccessful. While history is full of examples of solar mirrors – from , said to have burned a fleet of Roman ships in Syracuse, to their application in modern space telescopes – Viganella’s project still feels unique and sort of sweet.

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