Although the phenomenon of migration has been a constant for the entire Italian peninsula, it has become much more dramatic in the hinterlands and in the Apennines. Irpinia, a hilly and mountainous territory in Campania, has al- ways had a very special relationship with migration, which has become one of its main characteristics in the past century and a half. Demographic changes that have affected the social fabric of the entire province of Avellino were most significant in Alta Irpinia. In 1980, it suffered the most terrible earthquake in Republican history, which marked the divide between two eras. In fact, the post-earthquake years saw emigration stop, and in some places, the demo-graphic trend was even reversed. In the late nineties, the migration flow started again, often higher than in the sixties, leading to progressive desertification. Beyond the different interpretations that can be given to the phenomenon, among the concrete challenges to Alta Irpinia, there is certainly the need to hi-storicise migration and make it an element of the area's living memory.