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My Photos Show The Decline Of The Church In Italy, And Here Are 40 Of The Best Ones
Church buildings have been a mainstay feature throughout Europe for centuries. From quaint country chapels to luxurious and majestic cathedrals, the “Old World” is home or has been home to hundreds of churches. Some of them are maintained in pristine shape, highly regarded as national treasures, while others meet a rather different ending, being left in the hands of time and its relentless way of decaying things.
Italy is a perfect example of a country that, despite greatly valuing its history, architecture, culture, and connection with the Church as an institution, still features its share of abandoned churches. In this post, you will find 99 photos of abandoned churches and chapels that I photographed throughout Italy.
From the far north of the country down to the most remote areas of the southern Italian islands, there are remnants of ancient churches, some of which are only known to smaller local communities. In some cases, abandoned churches and religious buildings might not even be known outside of the lore of a specific neighborhood, and as time goes by, knowledge of these places and their past history gets simply lost through time. Even large cities like Naples in the Campania region are actually home to many unsuspecting former churches.
The historical center features many residential buildings that simply morphed into homes from their origins as former chapels, as urban expansion swallowed what was there before. Take the historical building at Via Nilo 22, “Palazzo di Ludovico Di Bux.” Even the current residents might not realize the premises were once a church, with some of its decaying features still visible to this day. This building belongs to a long list of former churches, sections of which are currently still decaying in plain sight, without even any proper documentation due to loss of records through the centuries.
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MarmotArchivist 4 years ago
Did the people relocate the remains from this grave before abandoning the church or was this grave robbed? I'm no expert on abandoned churches in catholic regions, so I'm interested in this question.
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Holly Doyle 4 years ago
why dont they build hoses in them . so beautiful and just getting ruined
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Amberleigh Mysts 4 years ago
Kind of poetic how when given the chance nature always takes back what once was hers.
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Elizabeth VanDyke 4 years ago
I would much rather see these works of art returned to nature than see them destroyed by morons.
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Suzanne Clark 4 years ago
Actually I'm surprised at how many there are, I had no idea. Also, how small many of them are and yet so intricate.
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Daniel Marsh 4 years ago (edited)
Around the year 1200, Francesco Bernadone was saddened to find a small, Italian church at the verge of collapse. The crucifix appeared to move, and to tell him, "rebuild my church." He restored the church, San [Saint] Damiano. He felt driven to rebuild other churches, until he came to realize that Jesus was not telling him to rebuild church buildings, but the church itself. Bernadone would become known as St. Francis.
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Julie Wattigney 4 years ago
I wonder if any of these churches were damaged before they were abandoned.
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What do you think ?
Anapv 4 years ago
Your photos are amazing, showing some beautiful though sadly decaying works of art. Thanks for sharing.
Jette Wang Wahnon 4 years ago
I adore Italy and have travelled,and stayed,extensively in the country.for over 40 years. Italy has a vast amount of art-treasures,well,some say around 80 % of the Worlds treasures are either located in Italy or from there. It is sad to see so much decay of once beautiful buildings.However I will say that it is not all the fault of the Italians.In the last 20 years there has been so many devastating earth-quakes plus the smaller quakes are a constant,almost a way of life.Granted,there is also an exodus of young people from small communities because of lack of work,immigration etc. The Italian government have these last few years tried to remedy the situation and put up for sale lovely old houses at a price of 1 eur. per property.You have to live there for a certain amount of time pr year...can be used for holiday homes.You can also apply for loans at a lower rate in order to restore the place. It brings life to otherwise half-deserted places. Churches however are not homes.
K- THULU 4 years ago
I think a lot of these seem to be private chapels rather than churches, from their size and design.
Roman Robroek (Post author) 4 years ago
Some of these are indeed private chapels! :)
Load More Replies...
Phil. 4 years ago
Luckily the church is really about people/followers of Christ and not about buildings.
Suzi Q 4 years ago
Though the church is more about the people (Jesus would preach wherever he was, not necessarily beautiful people, these buildings were a part of church life for many generations. It's heartbreaking to see them in such a poor state. I love old cathedrals but my church isn't a fancy church.
Load More Replies...
Margaret H 3 years ago
Hey, BP! How come all the comments are from a year ago yet the whole thread/post/whatever is listed in the latest heading?
Margaret H 3 years ago
I cannot imagine how heartbreaking this must be for some of the older parishioners who grew up loving their church as it was and watching it decay each week. They are fascinating - this is a great job of documenting them before they disappear completely.
Anapv 4 years ago
Your photos are amazing, showing some beautiful though sadly decaying works of art. Thanks for sharing.
Jette Wang Wahnon 4 years ago
I adore Italy and have travelled,and stayed,extensively in the country.for over 40 years. Italy has a vast amount of art-treasures,well,some say around 80 % of the Worlds treasures are either located in Italy or from there. It is sad to see so much decay of once beautiful buildings.However I will say that it is not all the fault of the Italians.In the last 20 years there has been so many devastating earth-quakes plus the smaller quakes are a constant,almost a way of life.Granted,there is also an exodus of young people from small communities because of lack of work,immigration etc. The Italian government have these last few years tried to remedy the situation and put up for sale lovely old houses at a price of 1 eur. per property.You have to live there for a certain amount of time pr year...can be used for holiday homes.You can also apply for loans at a lower rate in order to restore the place. It brings life to otherwise half-deserted places. Churches however are not homes.
K- THULU 4 years ago
I think a lot of these seem to be private chapels rather than churches, from their size and design.
Roman Robroek (Post author) 4 years ago
Some of these are indeed private chapels! :)
Load More Replies... Phil. 4 years ago
Luckily the church is really about people/followers of Christ and not about buildings.
Suzi Q 4 years ago
Though the church is more about the people (Jesus would preach wherever he was, not necessarily beautiful people, these buildings were a part of church life for many generations. It's heartbreaking to see them in such a poor state. I love old cathedrals but my church isn't a fancy church.
Load More Replies... Margaret H 3 years ago
Hey, BP! How come all the comments are from a year ago yet the whole thread/post/whatever is listed in the latest heading?
Margaret H 3 years ago
I cannot imagine how heartbreaking this must be for some of the older parishioners who grew up loving their church as it was and watching it decay each week. They are fascinating - this is a great job of documenting them before they disappear completely.
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