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Viganella
Comune in Piedmont, Italy

Viganella is a frazione of Borgomezzavalle, a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 120 kilometres (75 mi) northeast of Turin and about 30 kilometres (19 mi) northwest of Verbania. It was a separate comune until 2016, when it was merged with Seppiana into the municipality of Borgomezzavalle.

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Winter lighting

Due to the high ridge to the south, the town remains shadowed for 83 days per year, between November and January. A giant mirror was set up in November 2006 with controlled orientation above the mountainside, consisting of 14 sheets of steel which together are 8 metres (26 ft) wide and 5 metres (16 ft) high. The mirror functions as a heliostat, tracking the Sun so that sunlight always reflects onto the town square.12 The mirror cost €100,000, or approximately €540 per resident.3

The town was featured in a 2009 Italian/Canadian film called Lo Specchio (The Mirror).

According to a former mayor: "The idea behind the project doesn't have a scientific basis, but a human one. It comes from a desire to let people socialise in winter when the town shuts down due to the cold and the dark."4

See also

  • Rjukan, a town in Norway also uses mirrors to illuminate the town.

References

  1. "Brilliant idea: mirror lights up village". The Times, UK. 12 November 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20110604083323/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article634117.ece ↩

  2. BBC picture http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/technology_enl_1166526584/html/1.stm ↩

  3. "Brilliant idea: mirror lights up village". The Times, UK. 12 November 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20110604083323/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article634117.ece ↩

  4. Raffaelli, Giacomo (18 June 2021). "How the Town of Viganella Italy Used a Giant Mirror to Redirect Sunlight". www.vice.com. Retrieved 25 June 2021. https://www.vice.com/en/article/epnvzn/viganella-italy-fake-manmade-sun ↩