A village on the Italian island of Sicily has gone viral over its unique shape.
The small town of Centuripe is understood for its wealth of Roman ruins and rare ancient sculptures, but a drone shot from the air has uncovered its rare shape – an uncanny resemblance to an individual with arms stretched out.
Photographer and drone pilot Pio Andrea Peri noticed his hometown’s unusual shape on Google Earth and decided to make use of his drone to see if it was true.
He flew his drone as high as he could above the town and commenced taking photos.
To his surprise, it revealed the form of a human.
But because of the constraints of his drone, Peri reportedly needed to stitch together several photos to slot in all the village.
Aerial images show two longer stretches of buildings that resemble ‘arms’ and one other two resembling ‘legs’, while a shorter fifth stretch makes up the ‘head’.
“It was a tough shot to create,” he said. “I had to make use of multiple shots due to the height limit of the drone.”
Peri took the snaps in 2021 and so they have since resurfaced on social media with many amazed by the village’s resemblance to an individual.
“There are those looking from above who see a person lying down, then there are those that see a starfish … How about you? What do you see watching Centuripe?” he asked his Instagram followers alongside one in all his aerial shots.
“Wow, this town has such an incredible shape,” one person responded.
“Love this! I see a person living free with the land!” wrote one other.
Meanwhile, a neighborhood thanked the photographer for his work.
“Centuripe deserved some visibility and we’re honoured that a master such as you gave it. Gorgeous pictures,” they wrote.
Others described the village’s shape as “crazy”, “incredible” and “cool”.
“Would like to see how the people get around. I see one road across the periphery. Very interesting,” a Facebook user wrote.
“I’m on my way from the suitable arm, must be to the left arm oh I’d say in about an hour or so,” said one other.
“In a rustic shaped like a boot, there’s a town shaped like an individual,” a 3rd added.
Nonetheless, while many were amazed by Peri’s images, some accused him of doctoring them.
“The entire world was incredulous on the bizarre shape of this town. Many didn’t consider it was true, and so they thought that I had drawn the photo on the PC,” Pio said, based on the Each day Mail.
“But after they realized the reality by searching on Google Earth a lot of them personally apologized for what they said to me.”
“I’m happy with the images and I’m joyful with my results; being a self-taught person I think lots in what I do.”
He explained how difficult it was to create the ultimate image.
“I overlaid about 18 shots manually in post production and it took two hours of editing. I’m very joyful with the result.”
On the time, the town’s mayor invited photographer Peri to stage an exhibition of his photographs.
The traditional town of Centuripe, built on a hill about 730m above sea level, has a population of around 5000 inhabitants.
The town’s current layout and design is claimed to this point back to the sixteenth century with its tiny, winding streets leading all the way down to terraced buildings.
The picturesque alleyways are reportedly designed for animal transport.
Resulting from its high position, Italian general Giuseppe Garibaldi called Centuripe “the balcony of Sicily”.
From the highest of the town, the famous Mt Etna, one in all the world’s most lively volcanoes, is visible in the space, as are sprawling views of the encompassing countryside.
