empty italy
Day (insert number) of confinement. It doesn't matter what day it is actually. What really matters is that it is one day less.
The world is experiencing a crisis situation in which each and every one of us plays a role in getting out of it. Our? Simple but totally necessary: stay home.
And while, in the street, the silence, momentarily interrupted by the engine of a car, the song of a bird at dawn or a chorus of applause whose echo we hope will reach its recipients with great force, that first line that is left on the skin day and night.
One of the most affected countries is also the country with the largest number of historical and architectural monuments in the world. Indeed, we are referring to** Italy.**
Palaces, churches, villas, fountains, archaeological remains... without forgetting each one of the cobblestones of its streets and squares.
Apocalyptic, overwhelming, chilling, sad, unusual... There are many adjectives that we can use to describe the print. But thanks to these cameras scattered throughout the Italian territory, we can look at a stage whose scenery is still intact, waiting for the actors to reappear behind the curtain. Force Italy.
The Trevi Fountain, without a soul
ROME
Rome, the capital of Italy, the city where there is always room for one more tourist , the epicenter of an empire to which all roads led.
The image could not be more unusual: a lonely Colosseum, a Piazza di Spagna with deserted stairs, a Campo dei Fiori without its crowded market and a Pantheon without visitors are some of the places that we can contemplate through the camera.
The Fontana di Trevi , to which many times there was no choice but to access after avoiding a difficult obstacle course, remains intact waiting for travelers who never arrive, just like the altar of the Fatherland, in Piazza Venezia and the town hall tower, on the Capitoline Hill.
Its squares –Navona, Barberini, Cavour...– also They anxiously await to be filled with people, atmosphere, music, life.
The stairs of the Spanish Steps, in Rome, deserted
MILAN
The last Sunday, Andrea Bocceli surprised with a concert at the Duomo of Milan on the occasion of Easter, in an empty cathedral, before an empty square where even the pigeons seem to have fled elsewhere.
The skyline of the Lombard capital also leaves us with a strange sensation, like the image of the Central Station, normally packed with travelers.
VENICE
Dolphins and swans aside, what is certain is that the canals of Venice are free of traffic these days. The capital of Veneto, affected until recently by mass tourism, is emptier than ever.
From the Rialto Bridge to Piazza San Marco – the lowest point in Venice and the first to be flooded–, from the Riva degli Schiavoni to the island of San Giorgio Maggiore , Venice resists because it knows that we will cross its canals again.
Piazza San Marco in Venice
FLORENCE
in Florence, the sculptures in Piazza della Signoria wonder why no one goes to visit them anymore. Michelangelo's David (the original of which is in the Galleria dell'Accademia), Hercules and Caco (by Bandinelli), Perseus (by Benvenuto Cellini), Neptune (by Ammannati), the equestrian statue of Cosimo I (by Giambologna). Where is everybody?
They themselves wonder about the locks that still hold on the Ponte Vecchio , seeing how the Arno continues its course, while in Piazza del Duomo, the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore patiently awaits , with its doors closed and its heart open.
VERONA
Juliet's House in Verona does not lose hope that her balcony is filled with people again, that her statue once again receives locals and tourists and her walls once again see so many kisses and declarations of love.
The Arno flows silently under Ponte Vecchio in Florence
LAKES, BEACHES AND ISLANDS, LITERALLY DESERT
The views of the Italian lakes also leave us with some of the most fascinating images. Lake Como, Lake Garda, Lake Maggiore and Lake Iseo are wilder than ever, with boats moored until further notice.
Italian beaches, that every summer they are crowded by bathers from all over the world whose towels are barely a few centimeters apart, today they look abandoned to a lethargy for now indefinite.
Tropea, Ischia, Palmaria, Gallinara, Aeolian, Eolian, Pantelleria, Giglio, Ponza, Ustica... the islands of Italy are literally deserted.
Lake Como
DREAMING OF SUMMER
Positano, Amalfi, Capri, Rimini, Sardinia, Cinque Terre and all the protagonists of the Italian summer are still hopeful, what else is left for them?
Even Etna and Vesuvius They are silent in the face of uncertainty.
Arbatax, in Sardinia
THE ITALIAN CITIES –TO WHICH WE WILL RETURN–
Italian cities endure because they know that behind their walls there are people , people who will fill them again, live them and feel them like never before.
Eternal Rome, cheeky Naples, beautiful Venice, monumental Florence, energetic Siena, vigorous Genoa, petite Pisa, joyful Sicily, brave Turin, romantic Verona...
Ci vediamo presto Italy!
Verona