Valerio Ricetti
Encyclopedia
Valerio Ricetti was an Italian-Australian
hermit
who lived mainly in a cave in the Griffith
area for a period of 23 years. Working only at night and in the early morning hours so that he would not be seen, he turned the cave into his own private "utopia
" complete with kitchen, chapel, landscaping, pathways, stone walls, stone stairs, paths, terraced gardens and cisterns for water supply.
, a municipality in the Province of Sondrio
in the Italian region of Lombardy
which is a part of the Italian Alps, close to the border of Switzerland
, and located about 130 km northeast of Milan
and about 40 km northeast of Sondrio. Although Ricetti informed his life long friend Petronio Ceccato that he was born on 4 October 1898 he did at times adjust his date of birth so as to either get work, or receive adult pay rates. From that perspective whilst there is no actual birth record available there are other records related to his later dealings with police in Australia which in detail given by him state that his date of birth was 12 March 1897.
As a young teenager he was apprenticed to become a stonemason and concrete
worker, learning his trade in road and rail tunnel construction. Ricetti had always wanted to come to Australia and he was saving money for the trip, however his uncle, who had noted the impending war (which became World War I
), suggested he migrate to Australia before all passenger shipping was cancelled, and then lent him the money to travel.
in October 1914, just as he turned 16 years of age, working there for some months before moving to the mining town of Broken Hill
and finding work there. In Broken Hill he stayed at a boarding house owned by Valentino and Elisabeth Ceccato. Valentino helped Ricetti get a job at the mine where he worked. The mine was owned by Francesco Bicego. He learned to speak English
very well, and he could already speak Italian
, German
and French
. Ricetti worked in the Broken Hill area until 1918, leaving heartbroken because a barmaid whom he intended to marry had spurned his love.
Returning to South Australia he worked in various jobs for several years and a certain level of frugality allowed him to save a year’s wages, which he had in his pocket when he visited a brothel
in the city. He left the brothel somewhat absentmindedly leaving his wallet and its contents behind. When he returned for his wallet, the establishment’s pimp refused to let him back in and in his anger he threw a rock through one of the windows. The police were called, and a chase saw him captured and sentenced to time in Adelaide Gaol
.
When he was released he left South Australia to spend time in Victoria
. While in Melbourne
he tried to pawn
his one remaining possession, a coat. Ricetti fell foul to a scandalous passer-by who pretended to assist but instead disappeared with the piece of clothing.
Moving then to Burrinjuck, New South Wales
in 1928, Ricetti managed to get some work as a sailor on the Mary Anne, a paddle steamer
that worked the Murray River
, Murrumbidgee River
and Lachlan River
. As a part of his travels he followed the Murrumbidgee downstream to the Lachlan then upstream to Hillston, New South Wales
. From Hillston he walked, with no purpose of location along the railway line arriving at the fringes of Griffith where a rainstorm forced him to find shelter. Next day exploring where he had stayed the night he found a huge overhanging rock which formed a dry, cave-like area. Nearby there were two reservoirs full of water, fruit and vegetable farms and a rubbish dump which not only had plenty of rabbits, but where he found a shovel, pick head, and axe head for which he made handles from nearby tree branches.
Deciding to stay on the hill and unaware that his old Italian colleagues, Ceccato and Bicego, had ironically settled down nearby, Ricetti believed himself to be the only Italian in the area and so he kept entirely to himself, living in the cave as a home. His need for reclusiveness saw him keep a couple of places to hide in the event of people coming by and for one of these he built a stone walled circular cave around a large tree that had a peephole in it. This hideout was set amongst shrubs so that he could hide without being spotted but keep watch until the people had left.
His industrious nature assisted by his background in dry stone walling saw him clear the site and create massive stone galleries, pathways, cliff side gardens, and floral painted rock walls. By hand Ricetti moved hundreds of tons of rock over a number of years without anyone in the area ever becoming aware of his presence. During this time he lived off the land - no doubt by scavenging from the tip, as well as the vegetable and fruit gardens nearby.
In 1935, after he had been in the location for 6 years Ricetti had a fall breaking a leg and badly bruising his ribs. Luckily he was found by a passing swagman
and after that person notified an ambulance he was taken to the nearby Griffith hospital and treated by Dr E W Burrell.
It was this accident and the requirement to provide an address to the authorities that moved him from a state of reclusive obscurity to that of instant celebrity partly because of his hermit nature but particularly when the sheer size of his work at the cave was discovered.
Following his recuperation in hospital he returned to his cave and Ricetti, without any money but anxious to pay Dr Burrell for his services sneaked into town at night and worked secretly in the Doctor's garden. Dr Burrell caught him after a few visits and informed Ricetti that he was Government Medical Officer and that payment was not required. Even so the two became good friends with the Doctor visiting him at his cave home regularly bringing gifts of things such as shoes and clothes.
Two years later Ricetti learned through the visit of a Mr Agostini (another Italian in the community) that his old friends Ceccato and Bicego were in that same town and their friendship was renewed. They would pick him up on weekends to meet other people and whilst Ricetti became more sociable and they attempted to coax him from his reclusiveness he continued to live in his cave.
, which he had learned during his apprenticeship in his North Italian homeland, creating what he referred to as his Garden of Eden
. Ricetti’s work, completed totally on his own, covers 160,000 square metres of rocky ridge atop Scenic Hill, using the natural landscape and materials found in the area to create a hermitage
that stretched for over a kilometre.
state authorities put in place the requirement for enemy alien
s to register under the National Security (Aliens Control) Regulations, report to the local police station each week, and carry an identity card at all times. Ricetti was arrested on 4 March 1942 for failing to register and failing to report. His statement that he was unaware of the requirements was accepted by the local police, and the local police Officer-in-Charge reported that he did not have a concern with Ricetti, noting that he was a harmless mental deficient who lives the life of a hermit.
Military Police
Intelligence of Sydney had different views however and demanded a search be conducted by local police of his cave premises. However they found no literature of subversive or disloyal nature or any prohibited possessions. Nevertheless it was alleged that Ricetti had lined the walls of one of his caves with newspaper reports concerning Hitler which had a swastika
prominently displayed. Ricetti was interviewed by Military Police who noted that he lived in the highest and most secluded locality in the District ... about a mile from the various petrol depots, electricity substations and water channels in the Irrigation Area
... and that he was known to wander about at night and it was decided that he should be interned. He was arrested on 3 May 1942 at his cave and moved to Liverpool Prisoners Of War and Internment Camp and then transferred to Cowra
Internment Camp and then transferred to Loveday Internment Camp, South Australia on 21 April 1943. Part of his internment duties included building roads in the area and with his skills he was able to assist his guards with ways to improve their road-building methods.
Ricetti was released 8 months later, taken to Sydney and there nominated his place of abode (as part of the register requirements) as Farm 219 Yoogali, Griffith which was the Ceccato farm. A year later on 30 November 1944 he officially nominated the location of Crown Reserve (now called Scenic Hill) - the place of his cave as his place of abode.
No one is absolutely sure if Ricetti lived in the cave exclusively from that time although for the rest of World War II it is likely that he was not allowed to live back in his cave. It is known that he worked on Valentino Ceccato's farm until 1948 and then on the farm of Valentino's son. Ricetti is said to have always been a loner, working away from others and as necessary sleeping in the pruning shed.
By May 1952 he was in bad health but he had collected £1400 which allowed him to return to Italy, partly with the intention of seeing his brother with whom he had hitherto lost contact. It is clear that he intended to return to Australia because he purchased a return ticket and left his savings in the local bank.
In November 1952, Bruno Ceccato (son of Valentino Ceccato) received a notice from the Municipality of Sondrio
Valtellina that Ricetti had died.
Ricetti’s cave home became known as Hermit's Cave
and has now been preserved with a listing on the State Heritage Register.
Italian Australians
-Characteristics :The 2006 Census counted 199,124 persons who were born in Italy. However, 852,417 persons identified themselves as having Italian ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry . Italian is the fifth most identified ancestry in Australia behind 'Australian',...
hermit
Hermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
who lived mainly in a cave in the Griffith
Griffith, New South Wales
Griffith is a city in south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith local government area. Like the Australian capital, Canberra and the nearby town of Leeton, Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin. Griffith was named after Sir Arthur Griffith the...
area for a period of 23 years. Working only at night and in the early morning hours so that he would not be seen, he turned the cave into his own private "utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
" complete with kitchen, chapel, landscaping, pathways, stone walls, stone stairs, paths, terraced gardens and cisterns for water supply.
Early life in Italy
Valerio Ricetti was born in SondaloSondalo
Sondalo is a comune in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 130 km northeast of Milan and about 40 km northeast of Sondrio....
, a municipality in the Province of Sondrio
Sondrio
Sondrio is an Italian town and comune located in the heart of the Valtellina. Sondrio counts approximately 22,000 inhabitants and it is the administrative centre for the Lombard Province of Sondrio.- History :...
in the Italian region of Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
which is a part of the Italian Alps, close to the border of Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and located about 130 km northeast of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and about 40 km northeast of Sondrio. Although Ricetti informed his life long friend Petronio Ceccato that he was born on 4 October 1898 he did at times adjust his date of birth so as to either get work, or receive adult pay rates. From that perspective whilst there is no actual birth record available there are other records related to his later dealings with police in Australia which in detail given by him state that his date of birth was 12 March 1897.
As a young teenager he was apprenticed to become a stonemason and concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
worker, learning his trade in road and rail tunnel construction. Ricetti had always wanted to come to Australia and he was saving money for the trip, however his uncle, who had noted the impending war (which became World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
), suggested he migrate to Australia before all passenger shipping was cancelled, and then lent him the money to travel.
Early life in Australia
Ricetti arrived at Port Pirie, South AustraliaPort Pirie, South Australia
-Transport:Port Pirie is located off National Highway One. It is serviced by an airport five minutes out of the city.- Railways :The first railways in Port Pirie were of the narrow [3' 6"] gauge....
in October 1914, just as he turned 16 years of age, working there for some months before moving to the mining town of Broken Hill
Broken Hill, New South Wales
-Geology:Broken Hill's massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world's largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits. The orebody is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the...
and finding work there. In Broken Hill he stayed at a boarding house owned by Valentino and Elisabeth Ceccato. Valentino helped Ricetti get a job at the mine where he worked. The mine was owned by Francesco Bicego. He learned to speak English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
very well, and he could already speak Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. Ricetti worked in the Broken Hill area until 1918, leaving heartbroken because a barmaid whom he intended to marry had spurned his love.
Returning to South Australia he worked in various jobs for several years and a certain level of frugality allowed him to save a year’s wages, which he had in his pocket when he visited a brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
in the city. He left the brothel somewhat absentmindedly leaving his wallet and its contents behind. When he returned for his wallet, the establishment’s pimp refused to let him back in and in his anger he threw a rock through one of the windows. The police were called, and a chase saw him captured and sentenced to time in Adelaide Gaol
Adelaide Gaol
Adelaide Gaol was an Australian prison located in Thebarton, South Australia, Australia. The gaol was the first permanent one in South Australia and operated from 1841 until 1988...
.
When he was released he left South Australia to spend time in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
. While in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
he tried to pawn
Pawn
Pawn may refer to:* Pawn , the weakest and most numerous piece in the game* Pawn, another name for a pledge in certain jurisdictions ** Pawnshop/pawnbroker* Pawn , an embeddable programming language...
his one remaining possession, a coat. Ricetti fell foul to a scandalous passer-by who pretended to assist but instead disappeared with the piece of clothing.
Moving then to Burrinjuck, New South Wales
Burrinjuck, New South Wales
Burrinjuck is a village community in the far eastern part of the Riverina. It is situated by road, about 15 kilometres southwest from Woolgarlo and 28 kilometres south from Bookham...
in 1928, Ricetti managed to get some work as a sailor on the Mary Anne, a paddle steamer
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...
that worked the Murray River
Murray River
The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...
, Murrumbidgee River
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
and Lachlan River
Lachlan River
- Course :The river rises in the central highland of New South Wales, part of the Great Dividing Range, 13 km east of Gunning. Its major headwaters, the Carcoar River, the Belubula River and the Abercrombie River converge near the town of Cowra. Minor tributaries include the Morongla Creek...
. As a part of his travels he followed the Murrumbidgee downstream to the Lachlan then upstream to Hillston, New South Wales
Hillston, New South Wales
Hillston is a township in western New South Wales, Australia, in Carrathool Shire, built on the banks of the Lachlan River. It was founded in 1863 and at the 2006 census had a population of 1,054.-History:...
. From Hillston he walked, with no purpose of location along the railway line arriving at the fringes of Griffith where a rainstorm forced him to find shelter. Next day exploring where he had stayed the night he found a huge overhanging rock which formed a dry, cave-like area. Nearby there were two reservoirs full of water, fruit and vegetable farms and a rubbish dump which not only had plenty of rabbits, but where he found a shovel, pick head, and axe head for which he made handles from nearby tree branches.
Creating a Utopia in a cave
His industrious nature assisted by his background in dry stone walling saw him clear the site and create massive stone galleries, pathways, cliff side gardens, and floral painted rock walls. By hand Ricetti moved hundreds of tons of rock over a number of years without anyone in the area ever becoming aware of his presence. During this time he lived off the land - no doubt by scavenging from the tip, as well as the vegetable and fruit gardens nearby.
In 1935, after he had been in the location for 6 years Ricetti had a fall breaking a leg and badly bruising his ribs. Luckily he was found by a passing swagman
Swagman
A swagman is an old Australian and New Zealand term describing an underclass of transient temporary workers, who travelled by foot from farm to farm carrying the traditional swag...
and after that person notified an ambulance he was taken to the nearby Griffith hospital and treated by Dr E W Burrell.
It was this accident and the requirement to provide an address to the authorities that moved him from a state of reclusive obscurity to that of instant celebrity partly because of his hermit nature but particularly when the sheer size of his work at the cave was discovered.
Following his recuperation in hospital he returned to his cave and Ricetti, without any money but anxious to pay Dr Burrell for his services sneaked into town at night and worked secretly in the Doctor's garden. Dr Burrell caught him after a few visits and informed Ricetti that he was Government Medical Officer and that payment was not required. Even so the two became good friends with the Doctor visiting him at his cave home regularly bringing gifts of things such as shoes and clothes.
Two years later Ricetti learned through the visit of a Mr Agostini (another Italian in the community) that his old friends Ceccato and Bicego were in that same town and their friendship was renewed. They would pick him up on weekends to meet other people and whilst Ricetti became more sociable and they attempted to coax him from his reclusiveness he continued to live in his cave.
Complexity of Ricetti’s cave
After he was found it was learned that Ricetti had used the traditional artisan skill of dry stone wallingDry stone
Dry stone is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their unique construction method, which is characterized by the presence of a load-bearing facade of carefully selected interlocking...
, which he had learned during his apprenticeship in his North Italian homeland, creating what he referred to as his Garden of Eden
Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
. Ricetti’s work, completed totally on his own, covers 160,000 square metres of rocky ridge atop Scenic Hill, using the natural landscape and materials found in the area to create a hermitage
Hermitage (religious retreat)
Although today's meaning is usually a place where a hermit lives in seclusion from the world, hermitage was more commonly used to mean a settlement where a person or a group of people lived religiously, in seclusion.-Western Christian Tradition:...
that stretched for over a kilometre.
World War II internment
With the arrival of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
state authorities put in place the requirement for enemy alien
Enemy alien
In law, an enemy alien is a citizen of a country which is in a state of conflict with the land in which he or she is located. Usually, but not always, the countries are in a state of declared war.-United Kingdom:...
s to register under the National Security (Aliens Control) Regulations, report to the local police station each week, and carry an identity card at all times. Ricetti was arrested on 4 March 1942 for failing to register and failing to report. His statement that he was unaware of the requirements was accepted by the local police, and the local police Officer-in-Charge reported that he did not have a concern with Ricetti, noting that he was a harmless mental deficient who lives the life of a hermit.
Military Police
Military police
Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...
Intelligence of Sydney had different views however and demanded a search be conducted by local police of his cave premises. However they found no literature of subversive or disloyal nature or any prohibited possessions. Nevertheless it was alleged that Ricetti had lined the walls of one of his caves with newspaper reports concerning Hitler which had a swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
prominently displayed. Ricetti was interviewed by Military Police who noted that he lived in the highest and most secluded locality in the District ... about a mile from the various petrol depots, electricity substations and water channels in the Irrigation Area
Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area
The Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area is geographically located within the Riverina area of New South Wales was created to control and divert the flow of local river and creek systems for the purpose of food production...
... and that he was known to wander about at night and it was decided that he should be interned. He was arrested on 3 May 1942 at his cave and moved to Liverpool Prisoners Of War and Internment Camp and then transferred to Cowra
Cowra, New South Wales
Cowra is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia in the Cowra Shire. It is located on the Mid-Western Highway, 317 kilometres west of Sydney on the banks of the Lachlan River at an altitude of 310 metres above sea level. At the 2006 census Cowra had a population of 8,430...
Internment Camp and then transferred to Loveday Internment Camp, South Australia on 21 April 1943. Part of his internment duties included building roads in the area and with his skills he was able to assist his guards with ways to improve their road-building methods.
Ricetti was released 8 months later, taken to Sydney and there nominated his place of abode (as part of the register requirements) as Farm 219 Yoogali, Griffith which was the Ceccato farm. A year later on 30 November 1944 he officially nominated the location of Crown Reserve (now called Scenic Hill) - the place of his cave as his place of abode.
No one is absolutely sure if Ricetti lived in the cave exclusively from that time although for the rest of World War II it is likely that he was not allowed to live back in his cave. It is known that he worked on Valentino Ceccato's farm until 1948 and then on the farm of Valentino's son. Ricetti is said to have always been a loner, working away from others and as necessary sleeping in the pruning shed.
Death and legacy
Despite being employed by his old friends at Griffith and becoming more sociable, Ricetti apparently was troubled by an illusion of a man and a woman in the sky who demanded that he do more and more work to his cave utopia.By May 1952 he was in bad health but he had collected £1400 which allowed him to return to Italy, partly with the intention of seeing his brother with whom he had hitherto lost contact. It is clear that he intended to return to Australia because he purchased a return ticket and left his savings in the local bank.
In November 1952, Bruno Ceccato (son of Valentino Ceccato) received a notice from the Municipality of Sondrio
Sondrio
Sondrio is an Italian town and comune located in the heart of the Valtellina. Sondrio counts approximately 22,000 inhabitants and it is the administrative centre for the Lombard Province of Sondrio.- History :...
Valtellina that Ricetti had died.
Ricetti’s cave home became known as Hermit's Cave
Hermit's Cave
The Hermit's Cave, situated on Scenic Hill on the outskirts of the town of Griffith, New South Wales, Australia, is in fact a complex of stone structures covering an area of 16 hectares....
and has now been preserved with a listing on the State Heritage Register.