cinematographic architecture
Introduction
The Sad Hill Cemetery is a work of cinematographic architecture built within the municipal limits of Contreras "Contreras (Burgos)") and Santo Domingo de Silos "Santo Domingo de Silos (Spain)"), in the province of Burgos (Spain), for the filming of the final scene of the film Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (The good, the bad and the ugly).[2].
Location
Leaving Salas de los Infantes, follow the N-234 towards Burgos and reach Hortigüela. From the detour towards Covarrubias and after 3.5 km, after taking a detour to the right of the road, you reach the location where the battle of Langston Bridge was filmed.
One km later you reach the monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza, filming location for the San Antonio mission. In the direction of Covarrubias and just before crossing the second bridge over the Arlanza River in Fuente Tubilla"), you must take the path that appears on the right in the direction of Contreras "Contreras (Burgos)"), from where you take the track that leads to Santo Domingo de Silos "Santo Domingo de Silos (Spain)"). This path leads to the Sad Hill cemetery.[3] The Cemetery is located 2 km from the town of Contreras "Contreras". (Burgos)").
In 2017, the Sad Hill Cultural Association took the steps prior to declaring the Sad Hill Cemetery as an Asset of Cultural Interest "Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain)") (BIC).[3].
History
In the summer of 1966, director Sergio Leone found the appropriate settings in the Peña de Villanueva and the Arlanza Valley for the filming of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
After filming, the place remained abandoned for 49 years until work to recover the cemetery began in October 2015 at the hands of volunteers from the Sad Hill Cultural Association.[4] The central cobblestone covered by a layer of vegetation was unearthed for months and through a crowdfunding campaign the placement of the crosses in their original position was financed.[5].
The entire reconstruction process was recorded in the documentary Unearthing Sad Hill by Guillermo de Oliveira, nominated for the 2019 Goya Awards in the category of Best Documentary Film.[6].
More than 5000 crosses are located in Sad Hill Cemetery. The most interesting is one dedicated to "The Family."