Drone Footage of Italy’s Empty Cities

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