Creepy Italian village abandoned after 900 years when earthquake killed hundreds

30 March 2024 , 08:33

620     0

Previously inhabited for around 900-years, the village was home to around 2000 people but a 2009 earthquake killed 308 people (Image: @FindersBeepers/ CATERS NEWS)

New pictures show an eerie abandoned village that has sat empty since hundreds were killed there in a natural disaster there 15 years ago.

Matt Nadin, from Sheffield, travelled to Italy to explore the village of Fossa in the L’Aquila region of the country. The scenic settlement had been inhabited for around 900 years until an earthquake struck in 2009.

Fossa had been home to around 2000 people but the quake caused severe damage to the village’s buildings and left 308 people dead. Today the empty streets and abandoned buildings give the village the feeling of a ghost town.

Matt explored around 200 buildings over two days spent at the village, he found many items left behind, from mundane things like clothing and family photos but in one particularly creepy discovery he even found a mummified cat.

The residents fled the town when the earthquake struck (@FindersBeepers/ CATERS NEWS)

Beautiful buildings have sat abandoned since 2009 (@FindersBeepers/ CATERS NEWS)

Matt said: “One of the houses looked like somebody lived there until yesterday, the table set out with chairs round it, appliances, pots and pans exactly where you would expect them to be, beds made like someone was coming home this afternoon.

Inside WW1 military hospital abandoned for decades before new lease of life

“But then two doors down from the perfect house was a residence that looked like it hadn’t been lived in for 50 years, with Victorian photographs hanging on the wall, dated decor and food long past its sell-by date. It was like stepping further back in time.”

Houses are left just as they were (@FindersBeepers/ CATERS NEWS)

The old town notice board is empty (@FindersBeepers/ CATERS NEWS)

Matt also had some rather spooky experiences while he explored the town that left him unnerved. He explained: “On numerous occasions on the second day of exploring, I heard strange noises and loud bangs that couldn’t be explained. I was standing on a road and some scaffolding covered my path, I heard a noise that could only be explained as a person standing on a manhole cover.

I decided to climb over the scaffolding only to find on the other side was a manhole cover that made exactly the same noise when I stood on it! It felt like somebody had been standing at the other side of the scaffolding watching me from the darkness!”

Shuk Yee Tsang