Wars, political conflicts or environmental disasters have tremendous power – they can depopulate entire cities. The fascinating feature of Italy is that even though the people leave towns or villages, they are still very interesting to see and worth a visit!

Giardino di Ninfa, Lazio

This town is known to be founded by the Volscians. Currently Giardino di Ninfa is a botanical garden in a wonderful English style.

Ninfa was a prosperous place that flourished between the 8th and the 14th century. Emperor Barbarossa destroyed this town, firstly in order to take revenge on Pope Alexander II.

The Caetani family bought the town and repopulated it. Finally the 16th century meant a new abandonment due to malaria. After the village disappeared under the wild bushes, it was transformed into an English garden.

Giardino di Ninfa, Lazio by Francesca Pulvirenti

Celleno, Lazio

Located in the Viterbo province, Celleno village is about 80 km from Rome. How the village came into being is not known. Anyhow, many people say that it was established by the Etruscans.

Celleno, Lazio by Mediamenta

Monterano, Lazio

Monterano is a ghost town that can be found close to Bracciano lake and the Canale Monterano. It is not that far from Rome.

The entire place is inside the nature reserve. It was a place where famous movies like Ben Hur were shot. The entire atmosphere is full of beauty and surreal feelings.

Monterano, Lazio by jeff kerwin

Balestrino, Liguria

Another ghost town which is highly mysterious is Balestrino. No one knows for sure the history of this place. The truth is that it was struck by an earthquake in 1887.

After that, only farmers remained in the land. The geologic instability caused all people to leave in 1953. About 400 people were moved to another place and the town remained untouched.

Balestrino, Liguria by Davide Papalini

Bussana Vecchia, Liguria

Bussana Vecchia is really old ghost village near San Remo. It was destroyed almost 1000 years ago by an earthquake. Currently it is inhabited by artists.

In the 1950s, the town was a host for the illegal immigrants who were evicted by the police. After this eviction, the village transformed into a shelter for artists that organize events and sell their crafts to whoever comes by and visits them.

Bussana Vecchia street, Liguria by mykaul

Gattara di Casteldelci, Emilia-Romagna

Gattara is part of the Casteldelci community, situated in the Rimini province. It was part of the Marche region until 2009. After that it got separated into the 6 communes that are today and it was integrated into Emilia Romagna.

Castelnuovo dei Sabbioni, Tuscany

The Arezzo province hosts an interesting ghost town – Castelnuovo dei Sabbioni. It was also linked to the mining activities that finally came to the end. After that, the people started to leave for a better living elsewhere.

Castelnuovo dei Sabbioni, Tuscany by Luigi Torreggiani

Sant’Anna di Stazzema, Tuscany

This village has seen terrible atrocities during the Second World War. After the ending of the war, it was rebuilt and it currently has a memorial for the victims of the war.

Sant’Anna di Stazzema (church and World War I memorial) by Hans Peter Schaefer

Argentiera, Sardinia

Argentiera town is actually a mining area that is placed in the Sassari commune. After the closing of the mine in 1963, people started to leave it because there was nowhere else to do here and earn money for a decent living. However today you can find here quite nice beach.

Argentiera, Sardinia by wiseguy71

Poggioreale, Sicily

Poggioreale is a small village that is situated in Belice valley, region of Trapani. After the 1968 earthquake, it was destroyed. The authorities decided to rebuild the village in a safer place, leaving the old setting totally abandoned.

Poggioreale, Trapani, Sicily by realloc

And what about you? Did you like the ghost towns of Italy, have you been in any of them? Let us know your feelings below in the comments.

This is the second part of Abandoned towns in Italy. For the first part of Unusual travel destinations in Italy – abandoned villages click here.

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