The 6th of April, 2009
3:30 AM. A dark day in Italian history. When most residents were sleeping in their
homes, an earthquake struck central Italy in the dead of the night. By the time the dust settles, hundreds have
died. (phone ringing)
(recorded emergency calls at the time of the earthquake and just after (in the Italian
language)) Shaking and covered in dust, the man is pulled
to safety. He survived the powerful earthquake, but many
others were buried alive. (Italian news broadcast about the disaster). Source: Rai News 24. (recorded emergency calls at the time of the
earthquake and just after (in the Italian language)) Although this earthquake was moderate in size,
magnitude 6.3, it caused nearly 300 fatalities, thousands of injuries, and displaced more
than 60.000 people. (wind breeze) Up to 11.000 buildings in medieval cities
were damaged, a number of them also collapsed. The estimated total amount of damage: $1.1
billion dollars. (emergency calls in the Italian language) I'm going to find out what's left after this
disastrous event. The adventure begins in a sparsely populated
mountainous landscape in Italy. It's a gloriously bright and sunny summer
morning when I arrive at one of the historic cities affected by the quake: a 13th-century
hilltop town. Today, the “zona rossa” -- or red zone
-- remains in place, and the vast majority of structures within lie abandoned. In this adventure, we will wander together
along the cobbled avenues. I will visualize the inexpressible tragedy
that once occurred here and show you the aftermath of the quake, which struck this idyllic historic
mountain town over 11 years ago, leveling homes and destroying the medieval, baroque,
and renaissance gems within. Time has stood still ever since. A predominant part of the buildings and homes
have remained unspoiled. And together we'll raise awareness for the
potentially debilitating effect of Mother Nature and delve into the precious history
and family memories that are still roaming around, as the day of today. ("Italy Series 2.0" opening title) 2009. A
brutal earthquake strikes a remote mountain city in the dead of the night. 309 people decease in the complete region. And right now, I'm standing here, 11 years
later. The earthquake also devastated the historic
hilltop town I'm exploring today, leveling homes and sadly destroying the baroque, renaissance,
and medieval gems within. This town had around 700 residents and in
total 5 people have deceased because of the event. Now, 11 years after the quake, the houses
are still exactly the same as the moment when they were left behind and the people were
displaced to a new residence by the local government. And that's because the people here have no
legal permission to go inside their home themselves, only with police or firemen for security. And still, 11 years later their houses have
not been declared safe. Also, all the businesses are just left abandoned. Enjoy my documentary today, as I'm going to
explore this town with all my respect and deepest condolences to the people who have
deceased. And never ever, made an abandoned place so
much impact on me as this one did. And I want to share it with you today. I hope you enjoy my perspective on it. I'm going to start off now on the main square. We immediately have a restaurant on the right. You see all the houses over here. And behind it there are multiple streets:
there's a church, there are shops, there's a pharmacy. This town had, basically, everything. It's going to be incredible, so, enjoy watching
this video. So, we're just going to start off in the actual
main square of the town. There once was a big parking lot here. In the middle, the people could hang out. This once was a place that was full of activity,
full of life, and... it's so strange to see it now, 11 years later. There's not a single sign of graffiti. Everything has remained so intact. It definitely shows off a lot of respect from
the Italian people for what happened. Even still, the street signs are there. And I think, what I find the craziest part,
is also the landscape surrounding this place. This is probably going to be the longest documentary
you've ever seen on the channel, but I think it's very impressive. It made a lot of impact on me what has happened
here. And, yeah, I think you're going to be amazed
about what's left behind. Also look over here, wow! You can see nature already reclaiming everything. And then, there are so many houses. There's also a castle ruin on top of the hill. And those are just a few streets. This is far from everything. Over here are still the advertisements. It's so post-apocalyptic to explore a place
like this. It has always been my dream to explore a place
like this one day. Well, yesterday evening we arrived here and
we've done a tour through most of the houses. So, in our heads, we have a little bit of
an overview for ourselves of what we really want to show you. Well, here in front of me was a bar. But we checked all access points, and it's
fully closed. We never force anything. Only if the doors are open, we just take a
look behind them. But if it's closed, it's closed. Well, let's walk down the alley over here. Actually, right from the cafe. It seems that this was a basement part. It probably belonged to the cafe too. Still, some bottles of champagne. Bottles of milk. Peach juice. Even, some bottles of beer on the ground. Oh my gosh! This one is still completely filled. Alright, let's go back up. To me, the most fascinating thing about this
time is that everything we see is post-quake and no human vandalism. Because of nature, everything has ended up
the way it is now. And I think I see an open door over there. Damn! So many tall buildings. Oh, it has been closed. They have made a bricked wall here so you
can't access it anymore. I think I can open this door. Yeah! Okay, let's see what's inside. No way! It's an old "Mercedes". Oh my gosh. It's completely full of dust. You can only see a few animal paws here and
there, but furthermore, it has remained fully untouched. Okay, that was a surprise. We didn't find that yesterday evening, but
just a pretty old "Mercedes" model is left behind. Let's walk along this alley now. Just on the pavement in the town. You have the entire town for yourself to wander
around. It's just... I think everybody that does urban exploration
has a dream like this to see a place like this in reality with your own eyes one day. Wow! It looks as if those are all very hard to
access. I think they are all closed. Yeah... Look at it. Just all the balconies. You can tell the cobwebs behind the windows. I like the property with the green facade
here. We checked it yesterday as well. The only access is actually this over here. Currently, I'm alone. My friends are still sleeping. I woke up this early because otherwise, I
could've never managed to see and document this town as a whole. I'm just going to make a nice walk across
the main square. It's so gloomy to imagine that this playground
over here was once just filled with life and joy by the children of the town. They would've been playing here... The sun is slowly coming up. And I just feel the peace of this place. Although it might sound strange, it is so
peaceful and quiet over here. You don't hear a single noise, except for
the birds just chirping. It's very very beautiful. It gives me goosebumps. Okay, so I want to give you the experience
as close to mine. So, I'm going to explain which route exactly
I'm going to take. We started at the main square. Still, the bar here. Over here, we can actually go to the east
side of the town. But first, I want to walk like that to the
west side, maybe even go to the castle ruin. And then, just go all the way through the
village, and then, we will end up again right here. And then, you really know that I've also been
very thorough and showed you everything I could. So, let's go! I did just notice... and I can not zoom in
very much with this lens. Let's see if I can also spot it on the screen. Because there's a cross on top of the hill. I'm not sure if you're able to see it, but
there's a yellow cross. And I think it's in remembrance of all the
people who've deceased here. Well, God bless them. I really hope they did live a happy life before
this terrible earthquake just devastated and ruined these people's homes. Over here there are some garages. I think this one is open. It's like storage. Oh! Some shopping carts. Maybe they were from a local town market. I guess this just served as a storage part. It's very hard to close it again, but... there
we go! Look at this building. It has just been completely reclaimed by mother
nature, and so is the pathway leading down. However, I want to take a look. It might not gonna be easy, but still, let's
just give it a go. Is this yet another house? Well, it seems to be closed. I think this is just a back alley of all of
these homes. It looks as if this house is open. Let's have a look... Oh! Oh, there are scorpions again. Oh, many! Many scorpions. I have to be careful. There are many scorpions in this house. And it seems that nobody has walked here during
the years. And as a matter of fact, it's actually very
crazy, but the electricity is running in most of the houses. Still, after all those years. Well, it seems that this house has mostly
been emptied out. Yeah, and over here you could walk down again. You had like a bedroom. Right over here, they actually had their bathroom. There's also a pretty big spider. Alright, let's go back down before these scorpions
might get angry for entering their house, haha. Well, this home seems to be closed. Well, there's an actual garage over here. It has also been closed. I quickly want to check out this corner over
here. Those are pretty big flat apartments. It seems that this one was left open, but
I think there's something behind it now. Nope, it is closed as well. But we still, have many to check and many
to go. And yesterday, we also found many homes that
are just wide open and still, are fully untouched by humans. So, before I go up here, I actually want to
walk back. Because I think there's also a very neat street
over here. Wow! Oh my gosh! Have a look at this. Everything is left behind by the people. Everything. Oh! There's even still, the jacket hanging. The car keys. These people had to leave because it was not
safe anymore, and after that, they could never go back to their homes unless they had legal
permission. And they left everything behind. Even their wedding photo. It's sad to still see the personal memories. It really makes you aware that these were
not just buildings but those were homes of families that used to be filled with joy and
life. A bedroom. This is like a witch hat. It's actually crazy how you walk in that easily
and you can tell that nothing has been ransacked. Like still, memories are left behind. Well, you can tell this one's locked. So, we are continuing. And yet, in front of me are again a lot of
apartments. But almost nobody almost entered these buildings. There are thick cobwebs on almost every entrance. I'm curious what's behind this gate. Yet, another home. My gosh! Okay, wow. I'm sorry for the darkness. I was not watching my camera screen. But have a look! This is a time capsule. Some taxidermy over here. Again, a wedding picture. Completely blurred out. I can't believe it. Still, the last pieces of clothes are left
to dry on the washing line. Oh, look at this clock! This must've been a tiny kitchen. All the clothes are also, still, inside of
the wardrobes. And then, look at another beautiful old photo
over there, completely covered in mold. Let's check the rest of this home out. Well, this is a shed. My gosh! Well, there's also a lot of black molds, so,
I don't have my mask but I also have my sweater in front of my nose right now. My gosh, wow! Everything is still there. But I'm getting out of here because I don't
want to be contaminated with black mold. Oh, wait a second. There's yet another floor. This is a big home. Damn! Wow! This is a time capsule for real. I can't believe it. Oh, oh, oh. Well, my shoes are completely covered within
these sticky plants, but wow! It was worth it. I mean, that's the reason why I want to check
out most of the homes. It's crazy that everything is still left behind
in this state. I can barely believe it. Oh, look! There's actually mist in the town now. That makes it extra spooky. While wandering in such an unusual environment,
a lot of questions run through your mind. Why did the residents never take their belongings
with them? Were they, for safety reasons, simply not
allowed by the authorities to return after the evacuation? Or would they rather elude a confrontation
with the enormous mechanical and emotional damage that this event had caused? How would you feel if you had an entire city
to yourself? And what would you do? Wow, look at the
beautiful ivy on the facade of this house. I think in a few more minutes the town is,
literally, in the clouds. The mist is slowly coming in, and that makes
it so, so, I don't know... magical and also just, I have the feeling that this is not
even real for me as an explorer. This was like a dream coming true for me when
I started. 4 years ago. And now, I'm walking here. It, literally, feels like a movie scene. But enough talk, let's explore. Because we still have a lot to go. I guess we enter another street now. Oh, there's another home here! Imagine, when the earthquake happened, everything
started shaking and vibrating. And as a consequence, it has just fallen out. So many letters too. Some cozy curtains here that are leading to
a kitchen and another bedroom. And over here you can still see the last date
before the earthquake happened: April 2009 on the calendar. Yep, that's the exact date. After that, hardly anybody has been inside
this home anymore. At least, not the original residents. Okay, so over here's another building we can
enter. Oh! I think this used to be a local store. Yeah, definitely! You can definitely tell by all the shelves
that this was one of those local town stores where the people could just buy their everyday
items and their food for dinner and everything. And there are still a few products on the
shelves. Some mayonnaise. Ah, a lot of cobwebs over here! Oh, look! Some coins. I think this is the old Italian currency. Hardly anybody has walked here. Over here they had a freezer room. Ah, this was like storage space in the back. Still, many products are left behind. And I think also some paperwork for the business. "Magic surprise". Hmm, I was expecting a bigger surprise. Well, let's walk back now to the street. Again, another closed house. But wow, this alley had some surprising homes. The store. Actually, we did not check this street out
yesterday, but you just keep on finding new streets everywhere. I guess this one's closed, but I want to feel
it just in case... Nope, it's closed. Over here's another garage. This home is widely opened. It looks like a big mess. What is this over here?! Is it a washing machine? I think so. Let's just walk up here. It's not easy, but, hmm... Oh! I am actually walking over the collapsing
now. Of this building over here. Nah, that's too unsafe. All these loosen stones. Wow! Look at this little alleyway going down here. Typical Italian. "Casa vuota" (Italian for: empty house). I don't know what it means, but maybe it is
still inhabited. I will just leave it. And for your information, we've walked around
the complete West part now. Because over there's the bar again with the
main square. Wow! I also really like this part of the town. Look: there's a bridge. That mansion over there we've visited yesterday. It's my very favorite. So, keep on watching the video if you want
to see what's inside there. How could man have prevented such a devastating
event? Is it a matter of prediction, preparedness,
or just a lack of implementation of what we know? The main problem could be attributed to two
main factors: the fragility of the buildings, especially residences, and the close proximity
of the fall. Retrofitting or replacement of these fragile
structures is needed to avoid the next disaster. However, it is a difficult dilemma to give
up for the rich and magnificent cultural history of the Italian country and replace all these
charming historical landmarks of which we, and especially the Italians are so fond and
proud. So, another reason why so many buildings have
actually collapsed due to the earthquake was that 7 years earlier there already occurred
an earthquake, and they were still trying to recover most of the town. Then, the second earthquake happened and,
yeah, that was just very bad for the condition of the houses because they were already very
fragile. And this town has actually been made on different
levels. We can walk on the ground part, and we can
walk our way up, walk over the bridge and that's another street. I think this will be the last way when we
walk back and have done the North part of the city. Let's go to the East part now. And the East part is my favorite part. We've done some crazy discoveries there yesterday. I was with a friend here in the evening, and
we just checked all the buildings and it all went fine. And then, I really knew that I have to share
this place with the world. It's so mesmerizing to walk here and at the
same time, you can feel the depressive feeling of the awful things that have been going on
here. The awful event has forced people to move
away and forced them to leave all their stuff where it is now. Wow! Well, right in front. This is it! It's a magnificent Renaissance time-capsule
mansion. Let's get inside! (Music ♫) Alright, so there we are. I'm so excited to show you this mansion. Well, over here's the kitchen. And you can tell that most of the things are
still standing as they were in 2009. All the plates, glasses, and mugs are just
in the cabinets. People had to leave in a rush and were never
allowed to come back. All their clothes are sadly left behind. What I don't understand, is that the Italian
government does not decide, of course with permission of the former residents, to donate
all the items, instead of just leaving all of it to rot. Woah! Look at this bedroom. Such a beautiful bed. I've never seen a design like that. Again, you can tell the aftermath of the earthquake
over there. All crumbled ceiling parts are just laying
on the ground. Over here was a bedroom. A very simple one, actually. A tiny sink over here. A washer. Look, there's even still tomato sauce for
the pasta. And there's a basement! Okay, let's check it out. I don't know if this is very safe, but let's
just see it. It's going down a long way. Damn! Oh my gosh! Still, all bottles of wine are inside. Completely filled. And just closed. And then, right next to it it has just been
completely collapsed. The entire floor has come down. What a big contrast between the furnished
rooms and this one. And look! It's an animal skull. Mostly mechanical items are stored here, and
some of their belongings too. Okay, this is dodgy. Oh! I'm not going further than this. You've heard now it's collapsing. But over there's an old sewing machine, and
I think they also made wine here. In the other part. But unfortunately, guys, I'm going back. This is not safe. Over here they would put the post they received. Wow! Also, look at the kitchen over here. It's all so traditional. Everything is made out of stone. Still, the pots and kettles here. My gosh. Look at the state of this part of the building. Over there's also a big cabinet that has fallen
down. And then, this is my favorite room of all:
the dining room. The decay is just mind-blowing. Have a look: nature is, literally, growing
inside. The plants, the roots... But still, you can tell that everything is
in its original place. The cabinet is very near to collapse. And so is the wall. Still, a bouquet on the table. And of course, still, all their plates to
make up the table. My gosh! I have no words for this place. It's mind-blowing. It sparks my mind. And I just can't get my head straight about
the fact they could never return or just take their stuff. Because some people, and I think most people,
are definitely still alive. Well, let's go upstairs. A toilet over here. A bedroom. And I think this definitely belonged to a
child. Yeah, also "Mickey Mouse" over there on the
wall. This is as far as I'm going to walk. There are cracks in the tiles everywhere. And then, actually, over here's a hole in
the wall. And have a look at this beauty, wow! Also, beautiful detail in the center of the
ceiling, with the painted angel. And then, the two beds with the giant chests
in front of it. This place is so historic and that's why it's
my favorite. It's fully furnished and oh so historic. It's as if I'm just shooting a video of a
mansion now, but instead, I don't have only one but I have like two- or three-hundred. I think this is one of their family ancestors. The nice thing about this place is also their
own private balcony. Have a look! Oh, oh, oh. A breathtaking view. Look at the panorama of the houses here. Neighbors as well. Oh, and look at that! A very old moped is still standing in the
garden. And they even had a garden house here. Or a garden house... more like... this was
actually a separate part from the rest of the house, and it's literally on the balcony. No way! The dishwasher is still completely filled. It's as if the last program was just running,
and then the earthquake caused it to open and it stopped with all their dishes still
inside. Oh! My gosh. Still, all their food. A lot of pasta. Tomato sauce, of course, they were Italian
people, haha. Over here's also a picture. Apparently, they had 2 children. My gosh! Look at the one single chair that's still
standing there. The last piece of furniture of this room. Alright. Oh! And a blue bedroom here. That's quite unique. (Music ♫) Immediately following the earthquake, some
30.000 people were relocated along the coast. And some 28.000have been housed in 180 tent
cities, located on the outskirts of the epicenter and several smaller cities. Alright, time to leave the beautiful mansion
and to go in seek of what else we can find. Because we still have many to go. But that one definitely belongs to one of
the favorite ones I've found yet. It's very dark inside of here. Still, the table. Now, this is such a modern house, actually. At least, the furniture. Oh, yeah, you can tell. Yeah. I think it is not very interesting. A bed over here. And they had a little balcony. Very cozy. (Music ♫) This is strange... I don't know Italian, but something is written
over there with a big chain lock. So, yeah, I'll respect it and just leave it,
of course. Look at the structure here. Wow! This is actually technical support so it will
not collapse. There's another house over here. Let's see... "Marino", "Azaro" and "Annalucia" lived here. Very Italian names. I hope I can fit through it. Let's try it out! I hear some water leakage, I think. Again, there's a basement. Oh, yeah! That's a severe leakage. It's all coming from the ceiling. This will probably soon collapse. It seems that they just had a complete farm
here for making wine. Oh, damn! Some storage. Oh, yeah! Look over here: some barrels of wine. Fairly big ones. This was definitely not only for own consumption. And over here they could store them in these
big bottles. I think that the people that lived here had
a wine business. You can see a lot of bottles, just empty ones. Oh, there are still shoes standing here too! And just have a look at this: isn't it beautiful?! It's so traditional. Let's go back up and let's go and see now
what the house by itself has to offer! I think the leakage is coming from a toilet
or a bathroom. Oh, look: still, the calendar again is dating
from 2009. Yeah, well, quite a mess here. I'm really wondering if these people were
actually prepared and aware of the fact that they could never return when they left. It would normal to still have hope and faith
you could return to your home. But this room is in a very bad state of decay,
and you can hear the leakage coming from the bidet or the toilet. It doesn't open. Quite stuck. But have a look: their kitchen and a dining
part here. Again, a very different style compared with
the other homes. I like that not everyone is exactly the same. And actually, a beautiful view again from
this apartment. There are so many cobwebs. Still, a diary. Wow! Look at this room. It's absolutely pristine. There's even still a china cabinet. Oh, look at the cart! Another bedroom. Man! Even all their glassware is standing inside. I can't believe I'm actually exploring such
a place like this. I was not even expecting it when I went to
Italy. Wow! A beautiful bedroom again. Let's check out the upstairs. There's a plant over here already. Oh, a lot of collapsing. Damn, look at those mainstays. I think this building is in very bad shape,
at least, on this floor. They are trying to keep everything up. Damn! What a decay! Over here are actually very beautiful pairs
of a sofa and chairs. Some fake roses. It looks as if this was a bathroom. Woah! What a mess. Ah, this room is just empty. Apparently, these people also owned a pet. I think this was their dog. Alright, let's go back out again. Just look. Imagine walking here and having the entire
town to yourself. Wow! I still feel like I'm in a bubble... as if
I am in a dream. I can't even realize it. Wow! Many ornaments on the walls here. Oh, we checked this one out yesterday. There's a key in the keyhole, but the lock
is so rusty that it won't open. Oh, I remember this one too! Have a look. It's again very different from the other ones. The kitchen over here. All food products are also still in the fridge. Some cheese and other things. It looks repulsive. And also, over here it is still on the shelves. Bottles, food, man... It is widely opened but it remained fully
untouched and free from human vandalism. Finally! One time, people have respect for a place. Like really, I'm very happy that the Italian
people have been that respectful to this town. It would be a shame when everything had been
smashed up by local young people who don't mind about the history. What's over here? It's again going upstairs. Oh, yeah! I remember this one too. It's fully empty, and not very special. You know, guys, for the first time it's really
impossible to show you everything in a place. But I'm trying my best to get as close to
that as I can. But you could seriously explore for a week
here and you still have only seen 20% of everything, I think. Damn. Again, what a state of decay. Pff. Sometimes it's really incredible what the
force of human nature can do with a place. Oh! I'm not 100% sure but I think that this was
a flower shop. Still, the opening times are displayed here. "8 till 12". Let's have a look inside. Yeah, well, there's not much left of the flower
shop. Maybe the upstairs? Nah, it is also fully empty. Loneliness recedes. A feeling of emptiness, sadness, and grief
is coursing through my veins... walking around in such a post-apocalyptic wasteland scenery. This was once the center of an event of great
loss: people lost their lives, their homes, and their confidential environment. Personally, it would be my biggest nightmare. It would break my heart to be forced to leave
home and never be disposed to retrieve any of my precious belongings. What would you take with you in the heat of
the moment? I can still picture the children playing in
the playground in the main square, or how people queued up to buy a bouquet of flowers
and surprise their loved ones. Time is allusive. Inside the town, we meet an elderly man. "Italy is a beautiful country," he says. Then he smiles and adds, "but that can change
all of a sudden". This part of the town looks very apocalyptic. There's much more vegetation on the pavements. Nature has definitely done its work here. Oh my gosh! Damn! Look at this. I'm not sure if you're completely able to
see it, but this was once a beautiful mansion. Look at the ceiling. And now, the complete wall has fallen off. Even have a look at that over there, in the
corner. Look: that's near to collapse over there. Wow! An incredible state of decay. Damn. Let's see if I can get closer. My gosh! Yeah, this one's closed again. This one is open but we have checked it yesterday
and it was completely empty. This one is a time capsule. Alright, have a look. This house is completely untouched. At first glance, you won't even think it's
abandoned as it looks properly clean. Woah! Look over here. All the drawers have just been coming out
because of the earthquake. I can't imagine it. From one door to the other door... you just
walk inside of an abandoned house that's abandoned for 11 years already, and everything is so
untouched. I really like these coatracks for their coats. That's something unique I've not often seen
in this way before. Oh, a bedroom over here. And then, this room is almost empty. Still, a painting on the wall. Yet, another bedroom. Look over here: this was their bathroom. And actually, over here I can walk to the
balcony and I can give you a better view of the place I was talking about. Look over there: that's just incredible. And then, lastly, there's a kitchen over here. And, yeah, it's unbelievable. Because even their keys are still hanging
here. It says "Austria", so, maybe these people
were of Austrian origin and moved to this town. Or they just loved to go on vacation there. But again, plates, salt, spices... all is
left behind. Alright, I'm back outside. Oh, look at this: it says "LG" on the top. Oh, this was also a wine cellar. Woah, look over here at the press. And some big barrels. Even still, all the bottles of wine are where
exactly belonged. Completely dusty. Full of cobwebs. But still, left behind. There's another home over here. We checked it out yesterday. It was furnished but it's quite simple, so... Look over here. That's a wheelchair. And this was just storage. Alright, let's go down through the jungle. I really have to watch my step because I can't
see where the steps of the stairs are. But so far, so good. Oh! And yet again, there's another tiny alley
here. I really like the wall on this side with the
holes, overviewing the rest of the town surrounding this place. And then, only to imagine that this is not
the only ghost town in this province. This is old writing from 1981. It's even going down here. Well, let's just check it. I have not been here yet yesterday, so, I'm
curious if I'll find something new. Clearly, not many people have been walking
here. That looks good. I think that's in use. I don't know. I don't feel comfortable, so I will go back. So, we're back at the flower shop now. Then, it's time to walk back to the wooden
structure there, and we're going to walk down the main alley, I think. So, that house is properly locked. It seems that an important person has lived
here in 1420. Anyway, I'm going to walk down the street
over here, and then at the end of it, you can see the tower of the chapel. And the chapel is just marvelous! Nothing special over here. Wow! A beautiful religious painting here on the
wall. There's another house here. It looks pretty overthrown. But again, of course, it's hard to tell whether
that's human vandalism or the earthquake. To be honest, I think it's more of the second. A bedroom too. I think they really wanted to store some things
in boxes and leave. But then, unfortunately, it was just too late
and they could not manage to do that. Wow! Look over here at the front door. Over here's a lot of iron scaffolding. I'm happy to see that the government is trying
to prevent everything from falling down, in the hope that one day, it still can be rescued. But you can tell, at the start of the street,
at the complete outskirts of this town, there's starting to get life again. There are like a dozen houses that are inhabited. Damn. It looks so apocalyptic. (Music ♫) There's a lot of scaffolding in this part. What's this over here? Oh, wow! It's like a tiny chapel. Wow! The golden details painted on the ceiling. Still, everything is there. Wow, the marble too! Oh my gosh. Have a look over here at the altar. There's a human skull. Along with some, I don't know... like ornaments. There's a crucifix too. My gosh. Absolutely incredible. Also, still some bibles. Man. I wasn't expecting this. I missed out on this yesterday, but how could
I have missed it?! The door seemed to be wide open. Well, the chapel was just so beautiful, but
on the right-hand side of me now, there's actually the church. And that one will absolutely blow your mind. There are so many more houses over here. Again, it's going down over here too. I will just quickly show you this one because I think it's quite traditional. Look at the sink and the curtains there. This is like a little shed. Still, there's a television. And even some keys are hanging here. Wow. It's incredible but it's also utterly sad
to imagine that all these past family relics, the furniture... all has just been left unused
and is just left neglected here in the ghost town. It's slowly starting to get brighter outside. The sun is falling through the clouds. Over here are some more buildings and you
can tell, most of them are just furnished. It's unbelievable. Also, a really nice balcony there. On the backside are the mountains. Alright, there we are (entering the church). Over there you can already see an organ. There are plenty of mainstays here because
I think this is the building in the complete town they care about
the most. Over here's already the altar. But then, it comes. And this is incredible! Have a look at this! Yesterday when I saw it, I was speechless. Especially the ceiling. It's just incredible! I can not imagine how many hours, years, maybe
even a whole lifetime was spent in carving this wooden ceiling, painting everything by
hand... and also, how many people they actually needed for it. This is just... this is art! Italian art at its finest. It's just splendid. I mean, look at the angels on top holding
a vase. Look at the details on the columns. This should not be left forgotten. And luckily, they are caring about it very
properly to prevent everything from falling down. But let's sincerely hope, this church gets
active one day. Somebody invests in it, maybe the government. Because it's way too beautiful to let this
beauty just wither away. Woah! This chandelier. It probably used to hang up in the center
of the ceiling there. My gosh. You, literally, don't know where to look in
this place. Everything is incredible. Ah, this is an electric one. Wow. Also, look over here in the corner. And on the sides over here: the shell-shaped marble
trays. And that was actually for the holy water. Oh! I don't know where to look... wow. Actually, right over here's a hole, and it's
leading to an underground crypt. Have a look: there are still skeletons, bones...
oh my gosh! Oh, oh, oh. Well, I actually can go down, but out of respect
for the people that have been buried here, I'm not going to do it. But the crypt is all underneath the church,
so, that means from here to there... that's also a tile, like this, this one. It has all been built under the ground. Over here as well. And this one as well. Oh my gosh, there are so many bones down beneath
here. It's very hard to show you in this way, but... My gosh! What a place. This ghost town... I can't get my mind straight about it. Oh, look over there in the corner on the left,
in the top. Unfortunately, I think that's the first part
of the ceiling that has come down. Hopefully, the rest will remain intact, but
it will be very difficult to restore this. Okay, so you've seen the church. And right now, it's time to show you this
magnificent palace. I see a lot of influences from the Renaissance. I think over here we can access. I've not seen this place by myself yet, cause
yesterday we did so much that we just didn't have time for it. Have a look! We've made it inside the palace. Immediately a lot of things used for the storage
of wine. Some more barrels over here. I really don't know what to expect in this
place. It's very dark. I think my friends are also inside here, I've
heard some voices. Wow! Still, the presses for the wine. Look over here: the grapes would go inside
of the crate, and then, that would press the grapes until it was juicy enough to make wine
right out of them. Woah! Yeah, this is amazing. It's a complete wine cellar. Wow. This is the best wine cellar so far, and also
the biggest one. You know it's a big one if they even needed
stairs to reach the barrels. Woah! Amazing! And yet, there's more. So, you can definitely tell how much wine
they produced here. Alright, so over here are some stairs going
up. My gosh! Look at this. Wow! What a ceiling! Incredible. So, this was once the front door of the palace
and look at all the mesmerizing paintings. Not only on the wall over here but also on
the vaulted ceilings. Wow! Well, I'm really curious about what else is
waiting for us. Over there's a lamp too. It's so colorful. Oh, just incredible. Alright, let's go upstairs. What's this? It's still furnished, or? This is odd. There are mainstays everywhere here. Wow, look: this was a bedroom. My gosh. Have a look at the stove over here. Wow! Look at this room. Damn! The ornate ceiling is oh so beautiful. I really, especially, like the blue colors. They are matching so well. A carpet here. Oh! No way! Look at this piano! A horizontal piano. There used to be portraits or paintings in
that frame too. This one is closed. This must've been the dining area. Still, the table in the middle. A beautiful fireplace over there. Wow, even this little gown, probably from
a girl. The kitchen here too. I'm really wondering why they did not empty
the palace out. But clearly, they are trying to maintain it
from falling down and degrading more, by placing all the scaffolding. So yeah, I'm definitely delighted to see that
they're doing that. The church was so beautiful, the palace was
absolutely marvelous with the paintings. Right now, let's walk upstairs. All these stairs look so picturesque. This is definitely one of those traditional
Italian towns which are only beautiful by themselves already to see if they're not abandoned. Of course, like an abandoned explorer as I
am, this is even more fascinating. Hey, kitty! A tiny kitten there. Hello! I'm not here to hurt you, hey... It is still very little. Oh! There's another cat. Over here's another door open. Oh, damn. It's completely ransacked. You can tell that there are again so many
houses. We've checked these ones on that side, but
they did not have access. Look over here: a water pump and a receptacle. And right now, I'm walking to one house that
really took my attention. It was open. We closed it again with a stick yesterday. I'll just remove the stick for now. Alright, already the doorknob, haha. And at first, we thought, this is like modern
and stuff. But, just wait for it. Over here's a bathroom. It's pretty neat with all the tiles. And then, we entered this room and we thought:
"Hmm, not very interesting". But again, wait for it. Because look at this! It's a beautiful living room. And again, a very incredible ceiling. And then, the bedroom also really took my
attention as the decay is just incredible. Have a look: there's the bed. All the ceiling parts are just on the floor
and there's only a little part still present of the ceiling and the rest has just collapsed. So, I closed the door again, just to protect
it. I'm now walking down this cobblestone avenue. Already exploring for 6 hours now, and still,
we did not see everything. So, from this point, it is officially not
authorized to go inside. But yeah, it's just widely opened. There are no guards, nothing... I don't understand it. How can there be no guards and still, most
of the properties are in such good condition? A neat inner courtyard here. So, as I said, this town has been built on
multiple levels, and you notice that I'm walking down because I'm now I'm going to the ground
level. This building was actually a theatre but unfortunately,
it's also completely closed. Over here it luckily looks as if they already
started to renovate. This building is still abandoned, though. I'm walking all the way down because on the
other side on the ground level, we've also found some beautiful homes yesterday, and
one of them was a true time-capsule. It was, literally, completely untouched. It was like a time capsule. Not much decay at all, pretty clean, actually,
but, yeah, clean... like everything was standing because it was full of dust, and we had cobwebs
all around our faces. Wow! Look over here. We're going all the way down. So, if I walk down right over here there will
follow a street where everything is again inhabited. There we can also see the first car again. So, this is a part of the outskirts where
people are living again. However, what we've explored is the "red zone",
and that's the upper part where also the epicenter of the earthquake actually took place. You can tell it's also clearly just inhabited. And I'm happy to see that the town is slowly
becoming a town again, and not a ghost town anymore. I'm just making a nice hike. I'm not talking very much because, yeah, those
are mostly just houses and most of them are inhabited, so, I'm not going to film them
too much. But I just want to give you the experience
of what I see. It's maybe a little bit raw footage, not very
cut, but I think it's the nicest to see it from my perspective as I walk through this
place. There are some workers inside. Okay, and now we're getting to the abandoned
part again. This building over here actually was the school
of the town. Alright, let's close it again. Wow. Look at the staircase. And the beautiful light falling through at
the top. All these windows. Actually, in the school, there was not much
left. But still, I think it's a very beautiful place
with a lot of natural decay. That's closed. Ah, look over here. This was a tiny theatre. Probably performances were done here by the
children. This was definitely a primary school. Over here the children would have hung up
all their jackets. And then look at this: a big coloring of them
on the ground. Also, "Mickey- and Minnie Mouse" here. Wow. They were also educated in religion here. Probably because it's a small town and in
most Italian towns like this the people are still very religious, and the parents raised
their children up in a religious way. The girl in that frame is also praying. Those were definitely the classrooms. Plants are growing inside. Then, over here you could go another level
upstairs. Well, it's just empty here. But look over here! A grand piano. Wow. Still, in pretty decent condition too. At least, let's check it out. I regret my words, haha. Ah, I think there used to be a religious statue
inside this glass bulb. Yeah, not very much interesting stuff to see
here, so, I will just do a walkthrough. There's a bathroom here. Oh, oh, wait for a second! Oh, oh, oh. Look at this! This was a classroom. Wow! Still, all the benches here. It looks as if lectures were given here, or
religious lectures. Yeah, I think the pupils were educated in
religion here in this classroom. Have a look at how all the seats are just
still standing here. Some books over here too. And some pencils... Alright, so over here we actually have a T-junction. It splits in 2 ways. If I follow this road, we'll ultimately reach
the main place where I actually started at the main square, so, I first will go down
this alley. Because over here we also did some really
crazy discoveries. So, the house right in front of me right now,
still, has many belongings left. Woah, look over here! It's even an old "Fiat" left behind. And then, let's go inside the house. Woah! Look at this. It's a little bit messy here and there, but
I think most happened due to the earthquake. Over here are 2 beds. There's even garlic still drying on the walls. But what I found very crazy is the fact how
this floor has just entirely collapsed as a whole. Oh, oh, oh. But then, you can still tell, that this was
probably a bedroom of the people, and many personal pictures are still hanging up of
the family that lived here. There's even still a shopping back hanging
up on that coatrack there. Even a piece of garment is almost falling
down! Oh! And there's even a toilet, indeed. There's no point you can reach it anymore. That's definitely from back in the days before
everything fell down and was leveled with the ground floors. And you can tell, that on this side over here
the headboard of the bed used to stand because there's a switch to turn the lights off over
there. So, the bed would've been standing like this. Oh! That shocked me. There's again a cat. So, over here there are also a lot of houses
next to each other. I'll just show you my favorite, and that was
this one. It's the time-capsule mansion I was talking
about. Alright... let's enter it! So, already over here's a bathroom. You can tell the untouched state of this property. All products are still standing where they
were once left. This was the main door one day. I think the other one was the back door. And then, have a look: over there's the actual
kitchen and this was the living room. Oh. Oh my gosh! When we saw this yesterday, we could not believe
our eyes. It looks so untouched. It's still so livable. But then, again, if you look at the calendar,
this home has been left when the earthquake happened, 11 years ago. It's very well-preserved in time for such
a long time. Really incredible. Normally, a house that's abandoned for 11
years, does not look as clean as this one. Oh, and look on top! All the trophies. Damn! Apparently, they enjoyed watching motor driving,
or maybe they did it themselves. Maybe they had a son that was into it. Look at the fur coat over there. And then again, there's some taxidermy in
this home. The birds. And there's also a pheasant. I think this was just a storage part cause
there are so many random things. Then, actually, over here I'll lastly show
you the kitchen of the home. Damn, and look: it hasn't been touched by
other people. There are cobwebs in between it. Not sure if it focuses. It's completely frozen in time. So, we finally made it to, I think, the last
street of the town! Ah, this is actually an open front door, but
then inside there are two doors and they are just locked (we checked it the day before). However, I'm very curious about what's inside
of this building, but it's locked as well. I will show you the exterior and I would love
to hear your thoughts in the comment section about what you think this building was used
for. It's saying "Nuovo Gange", and there's, I
think, something religious. Maybe Indian in front. Yeah, it looks a little bit Indian or oriental. Well, the entrance is definitely an eye-catcher. It's completely different compared with the
other colors and facades. That one's closed. So, if you remember it right, that was actually
the white mansion of which I said it was my favorite. Then, actually, look over here: this was the
local pharmacy of the town. It's completely closed but I can show it to
you through the window and still, there's a lot left behind. So, have a look! It's absolutely unbelievable. These people had to leave in a rush, never
returned and here we are, 11 years later, documenting it with the intentional purpose
of making a serious documentary and all respect to the properties and the belongings, of course. So, there we go! Oh my gosh! I truly enjoyed it, but it almost feels like
a relief that I actually made it to document this whole place. I think we're on 8 hours in total now, and
this was absolutely crazy. Here was the bar again, and we've just made
it! We have gone all around. I think I accessed the buildings, at least,
the buildings that were the most interesting to show you. Because we checked them all out last evening. And, yeah, it's just impossible to put all
the buildings into one video. But this was unbelievable. Lastly, of course, it's time to fly the drone,
and let's see what this town looks like from the beautiful sky. So, enjoy watching the drone shots and after
that, the outro will come. So, you know the drill, as always: hit the
LIKE button, SUBSCRIBE down below, and also leave a nice COMMENT down below. Thank you for making it to this part of the
video. I really hope you enjoyed seeing this ghost
town. And as I said, this video was made with a
serious purpose to make people aware of the tragedy that happened here that underlies
the earthquake, the town, and the complete province. Again, my deepest respect and condolences
to all the former inhabitance of this town. I'm very tired and it's getting hot, so, I'm
going to close the video. Enjoy watching the drone footage, and have
a great week! Bye-bye! (Music ♫) The future for the cities looks bright. One year later, I revisit this place. A skyline of cranes rises high above the city,
while countless angry fractures disfigure its once beautiful buildings, now supported
by a maze of scaffolding. The city is slowly coming back. Collapsed buildings are reconstructed with
anti-seismic technology, and the first signs of life start to shape the outskirts of the
town. I want to extend my deepest condolences to
the victims and those affected by this catastrophic event in 2009. It was touching to see all the cultural Italian
glory in this faded state. I want to thank you for this journey back
to the past with me, and hope to see you again in the next adventure. Peace-out.
*2016
Edit: watched the start of your video. Either the city's name is wrong (L'Aquila, not Amatrice) or you got the earthquake mixed up with another one.