Whatever you think is a permanent part of your life won’t last forever. Period. Somewhere on an Italian mountainside, we found the sad proof of that. There is a broken city where families lost everything. After a decade of neglect, hundreds of homes sit empty today in varying states of deterioration. What happened here? Wherever you go here: After stepping through a portal, you are constantly finding yourself in another time. The houses still contain all the possessions, which shows that families had to flee from their homes overnight. It did not matter if you were rich or poor. It affected all of them equally. In today's episode, we will find out what happened. We will explore dozens of abandoned structures to see what is left behind. Just look at this place! Almost one thousand people used to live in this city, and now it is a ghost town. Life can change in an instant. If you like our kind of adventures subscribe to this channel, and turn on notifications, so you don’t miss any of the upcoming explorations. Yeah, it is hard to believe, but every single building of this remote mountain town has been abandoned. Well, actually, people are not allowed to live here anymore. It is just too dangerous. We will explain the reason for that in detail later in this video. But please note: As always we are trying to keep the location secret. The personal belongings here were not left behind by choice. People still own them, but they are not allowed to return and retrieve their items. So, instead thieves are taking what they can find. And we do not want to be the reason that more of them know about the place and come here to steal. Even though there are empty roads and derelict structures, you can still get an idea of how life must have been in the former flourishing community - before it all changed. After ten years of being in some kind of limbo state, redevelopment started. It might not look like it at first glance, but many of these buildings could collapse at any moment. However, people should be able to return in the future. Rebuilding has begun from the entrance of the village and it is planned to head towards the historic city center during the next few years. We are probably unwanted guests here, so we will try to stay away from those workers and focus on exploring the town core. As you will see, they already started with some safety works here a while back. Let us take a look around. The story of this place goes back to an ancient town that was built here during Roman times. But actually, even before that, people were living here. It has been home to man for 3,000 years. And now? What was intimate and private is exposed today. Drawers were opened, windows are broken, walls have collapsed. It is quite tragic what happened here: Ten years ago, in the middle of the night, there was a terrible earthquake. The epicenter was only a few kilometers away. Families were still sleeping in their beds when it happened. Buildings broke down, and people died. The quake caused damages to almost every house in the village. It was bad. But it got even worse just a day later when there was a large aftershock. Also other cities in the region were affected, and overnight tens of thousands of Italians were displaced. This town used to be home to many of them, and they preferred sleeping in their cars over abandoning where they come from. But families needed to leave everything behind, except the clothes they were wearing when the earthquake happened. They were sheltered elsewhere and became refugees in their own home country. Normally, we drive many hours just to see one abandoned structure. But here we have countless buildings to explore - each one more fascinating than the one before. The big church in the town core is clearly one of the most splendid ones. The church was heavily damaged by the earthquake, and needs to be supported by numerous pillars today. Parts of the façade and ceiling fell down. Also the bell tower was close to collapsing. In fact, at the very same location, there once was a church that was originally built in the 13th century. But that one was completely destroyed by a previous quake a long time ago. It seems like residents of this town are followed by misfortune. The church was rebuilt in Baroque architecture 300 years ago. It is decorated everywhere, and also features an ornate wooden ceiling. Despite its historical, cultural, and artistic importance the church and also the entire town is in danger of being forgotten today. The medieval town was built on the ruins of a Roman city. Since the settlement was extended over the past centuries, you can find many historical buildings from different eras. Inside the houses, there are still a lot of vintage items that are probably too big and heavy to steal. During the last few years, many residents came back to lock their houses. It is the only way they can protect their properties at the moment. But since these are old homes for almost 1,000 people, not every building can be secured. We do not know how many houses you can enter today - but it is too much for us to handle. It took a long time to clean up the city after the devastating quake a decade ago. But due to the scale of the town, it will take much more time before the first people can return to their homes. Many of the houses are temporarily secured from collapsing , but it will probably not be possible to ever move in again. Instead, demolition would be the only option. But many other communities in the region need to be rebuilt as well. It is the lack of funding and all the bureaucracy that slows down the process of reinhabiting this medieval town. So, we are wondering: If people can finally return one day, will this still be their home? After all that time, life has changed dramatically. They are residents in other cities, own new houses, and their children might have their own families by now. For many people, there is no reason to move back here ever again. So, what does home actually mean? In the next chapter of our 2020 Italy series, we enter a NATO command and communications bunker hidden in the Italian mountainside. Just to get inside is an adventure in itself! We explore the huge underground facility and try not to get lost. Countless rooms and junctions on several floors make this one of the largest abandoned bunkers in Europe - or maybe even in the world. Watch our next video to see what is left behind and learn the story of this unique abandoned structure. Stay tuned! For more urbex stills, check out our social media, and also follow @tobi_urbex on Instagram or Flickr. If you support our project on Patreon, you can also access high-resolution wallpapers or receive analog photography we shot just for you. Please find the links in the video description. Exploring this ghost town was one of the most unreal experiences you can imagine. It reminded us of the exclusion zones in Chernobyl or Fukushima. Why do you think such disaster areas are fascinating to many adventurers - even though the places share sad fates? We would like to know your opinion. Be safe, but keep exploring!
We have just been on a trip to Italy, managed to get to Poveglia. Great video