There will come a time when all of this is over and we will wonder what Rome, Florence, and other Italian cities looked like during the COVID-19 quarantine.
Many photographers, communities, and news outlets have taken this unprecedented opportunity to send drones over Italy’s empty cities to capture the empty scenes — the still streets and silent squares. I find the footage both beautiful and haunting.
May we someday soon have the luxury of complaining about crowds.
Drone Footage of Empty Italian Cities
Before I begin, here is a video of Bergamo, the city at the heart of the coronavirus crisis in Italy.
Empty Bergamo
The City of Bergamo created the following video, juxtaposing empty streets with full hospitals. “Bergamo soffre, combatte e cura” — Bergamo suffers, combats, and cures.
Drone Footage of Empty Florence
Drone Footage of Empty Rome
Drone Footage of Empty Rome (Night)
Drone Footage of Empty Turin
Drone Footage of Empty Milan
Drone Footage of Empty Genoa
Drone Footage of Empty Naples
Drone Footage of Empty Palermo
Drone Footage of Smaller Italian Cities and Villages
Drone Footage of Empty Avellino (Campania)
Drone Footage of Empty Pavia (Lombardy)
Drone Footage of Empty Udine (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
Non-Drone Footage of Empty Italian Cities
A few other Italian cities have yet to get the drone treatment, notably Venice and Bologna. Or, at least, I haven’t been able to find those videos yet.
In the meantime, there are indeed non-drone videos of empty cities. Here are a few:
Video of Empty Venice
Video of Empty Arezzo (Tuscany)
Post first published on March 29, 2020
