Inside eerie abandoned ghost town on a mountain that has been frozen in time for 15 years after devastating earthquake
THIS is the eerie abandoned town left frozen in time after hundreds were killed in Italy’s worst earthquake.
The southern town of Fossa was a picturesque location before its decimation, thriving as a historic community basking beneath the Italian sun.
But in 2009, the devastating L’Aquila Earthquake registered a staggering 5.9 on the Richter scale and ripped the area apart.
Around 300 people were killed and 6,000 made homeless in what was one of Europe’s biggest natural disasters.
Almost 15 years later and the towns ghostly remnants remain, with collapsed buildings, crushed vehicles and caved-in homes appearing just as they were in the aftermath of that fatal day.
It wasn’t just the town centre that suffered, either, with surrounding roads, bridges and railways in and out of Fossa also reduced to rubble.
Basic essentials like water and electricity were also no more, while homes and livelihoods had been taken away in a flash.
The estimated cost of destruction was around $16billion (£12.7billion) – and the town has never recovered.
No fewer than 70,000 people were forced to evacuate following the earthquake and residents have been barred from returning for more than a decade.
In recent times, daring urban explorers have made their way into the town, documenting their journey through its eerie streets.
One explorer revealed their findings on TikTok, showing children’s rooms full of toys and a kitchen frozen in time.
Dishes are shattered across the floor and left over ingredients remain on work surfaces as the homeowner ran for their life.
Furniture has begun to decay, while drawers filled with clothes can be seen on the footage.
However, efforts to resurrect Fossa are reportedly underway.
Neglected buildings are receiving the much-needed treatment they need, while streets and roads are being cleared to make way for human civilisation once more.
The journey towards rebuilding this once-vibrant town in the mountainous Abruzzo region is expected to be slow, but there is now hope for the former residents of Fossa.
That includes Zoë Boccabella, who is rooted in Fossa through generations of her family.
Speaking of her ancestral home, she wrote on her blog: “I hope to see it and the other towns affected by the 2009 earthquake once again as they were.
“Vibrant, full of people of all ages, cooking aromas, Vespas going past, cats asleep in doorways, women shelling peas, [TVs] blaring, kids playing football in the piazza, birds chirruping among the lanes and the church bell clanging,.
“Everything that was beautiful and glorious about Italian village life.”