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What is life like in one of Italy’s poorest regions? 🇮🇹
In this video, I visit my dad’s small village in southern Italy to show a side of the country that most tourists never see. When people think of Italy, they imagine places like Rome or Milan – but life in rural southern villages is completely different.
Here, the streets are quiet, many houses are decades old, and a lot of young people have moved away to bigger cities or other countries in search of work. But despite the economic struggles, these villages still have something special: strong community, deep traditions, and a slower pace of life.
Walking through the village, you’ll see everyday life – local homes, small streets, and the countryside that surrounds this part of southern Italy. It’s simple, peaceful, and full of history.
This is a look at a side of Italy that most travelers never experience.
Would you live in a place like this? Let me know in the comments.
📍 Location: Gerocarne, Italy (my dad’s village)
21 Comments
What surprised you the most about this side of Italy? 🇮🇹
One thing I did notice is that there's no spray painted graffiti! That's makes a big difference!
I love it!❤
Looks like the middle east not Europe
Fascinating video! I’m quite curious how such a complex and highly structured (although now run down) village was constructed in the first place. It doesn’t appear to be near a major road, river, or railroad, so how did the material for it to be constructed arrive in the first place? It’s possible that the wood and concrete were sourced locally, but the glass for the windows, the pipes for the plumbing, the hinges for the doors, the stoves, etc all had to be procured somehow. How far away is the nearest source for those items? One hour drive? 4 hour drive? Just curious…
6:40, 10:35, 14:30
questo posto mi ricorda "salaparuta"
Bella ciao ❤ Long Live Palestine 🇵🇸
calabria
Hola Irene what a beautiful village. too bad people are leaving and not staying to rebuild.
IT DOES`NT LOOK SO BAD MOST HAVE A ROOF OVER THEIR HEADS, IN AMERICA YOU END UP UNDER A BRIDGE OR NEXT TO THE RIVER OR SOME THING, JUST SAYING NOT SO BAD, THAT IS THE TRUTH………………………………………………………………………………………
As long as I keep seeing you baby, I don’t mind what’s shown in the background 😍😂!!
What’s the name of the village? I’d like to visit
You spent too much time on your commercial promotion.
Lose the music. There was one sentence about why no one would buy that house that I missed because of the music.
My father lost everything to communism in Cuba 🇨🇺 so we migrated to Spain 🇪🇸 where my mother is from & in the late 60’s settled in New Jersey 🇺🇸.. Eventually opening a grocery store then a few years later a supermarket.. My family worked their ass off to give us an education of which I say starts at home.. My father will be 93 soon & is facing his mortality in knowing that his days are numbered… Spain 🇪🇸, France 🇫🇷 & Italy 🇮🇹 suffer from this same migration.. I have mixed emotions when I see a video like this…
It reminds me of my paternal ancestral town, Sant’Angelo di Cetraro in Cosenza. His grandparents all came from there – they migrated to Southern France where my great grandfather became a chef before they came to New York. The town stretches along the top spine of a hill looking over the sea. In the last census, the town has just 122 residents. It would be wonderful to do a genealogical trip to visit this and other areas that our family descends from.
7:44 that cat owns the house now
Maybe Americans don't know about this side of Italy, but all the Europeans have been in those areas. Abandoned villages built by "gli Americani", Plenty of these villages, with only a few "anziani" living there, toothless, who move around by cycle at 80+ years and who grow their own tomatoes in their little back garden. Busy gathering wood or pellets for the "stufa". Of course we know that side of Italy too, and it is the most charming in my opinion. ❤
Honestly,this really doesn't look as bad as you claim.In fact it looks pretty decent.Sure there's some worn out buildings that should be torn down but every country has that.As long as they know how to make pasta carbonara everything is perfect.
IN GREECE TO MANY VILLAGES ARE LIKE THAT BECAUSE OF THE URBANISM THAT STARTS IN 1960 THIS IS NOT SOMETHING NEW TO US