Confessions of an Urban Explorer — Abandoned Churches of Italy

This is the final part, Part 3, of a series of posts about our two-week journey across Italy to visit abandoned villas, hospitals, churches and other strange places in October 2021. Part 3 focuses on abandoned churches we visited during the trip. More photos are published on Abandoned Nordic’s Instagram page.

The stone blocks which had covered the crypt of this large church had been broken and pulled aside. I was staring into darkness, into the tomb beneath the floor. This church was abandoned, so there were no yellow lines and warning signs, just an open passage to the tomb. Broken blocks — it meant that someone had brought a sledgehammer, broken the heavy stones and after all that, probably stolen the old bones and whatever else had been inside. So, grave robbers still exist and they had been here. What does an Italian grave robber look like? How about the noise, must have been one hell of a racket.

A holy place?

For an urban explorer, Italy has a lot to offer. I’ve written about abandoned villas (link) and abandoned mental asylums (link) before. When I look at our route map, the third category is clear: churches. I think this category can raise some emotions since religion — faith — can play a crucial role for many. Not all but many. A church can be understood as a holy place and this is why it can be quite controversial to see pictures of these places abandoned and disgraced. Church attendance in Italy is still high compared to other Western European countries, so the amount of abandoned churches shouldn’t be understood as a message about, for, or against religion. There are a lot of churches in Italy, so it is not surprising to find many abandoned. There are a lot of churches which have been turned into something else, like movie theaters and night clubs. Photographer Andrea di Martino has put together photos of churches which now serve another purpose (link).

So what did I saw in abandoned churches in Italy? Simply as structures they are grandiose with high ceilings, ornate statues and altars. These were nice yes, but what I actually spend some time looking at were, for example, the confession booths. I kept stopping to stare at these mysterious wooden boxes where people used to go in, sit down and tell their secrets to a priest. I looked at the colorful small ribbons and linings inside, the wooden carvings with small details. So many secrets, sins, had been said out loud inside these booths.

Hilltop Crypt

The next place was tricky — difficult terrain. There was no obvious road leading up the hill where the crypt stood. The hill was high (really high) and covered with wild vegetation. Visiting an abandoned place in difficult terrain means high risks but also, if everything goes right, a lot of fun.

Niko was sceptic about whether we could even reach the place but Tanja and me decided to start the climb. We hauled our gear in steep vegetation and it took only minute or two before we were out of breath. We continued and after around 20 minutes we reached the hilltop. The crypt had a tall pillar standing on the structure, it kind of reminded me of those odd soviet utopian structures. We entered the small and gloomy main hall. Inside we found old religious items covered in thick dust. There even was a coffin which had been pulled from a tomb some point in time. It had been sealed with a glass, which was now broken. There was a sign in front of the tomb saying that this person had been resting here since the 1930s. We didn’t try to open the coffin, I don’t want to think about what we would have found inside. After seeing photos from inside the crypt, Niko started his climb as well.

“The red chiesa”, “Chiesa with this and that”, “Chiesa with bones”. Our map had many churches and we ended up picking what seemed largest and most interesting. Usually the hospitals had their own churches so we ended up in a church even when we were exploring something else. Surely other countries we have explored, have had abandoned churches as well, but Italy was in another level. Churches had benches, altars, confession booths and even coffins.

Sorry, no salvation

I’ve understood church as an institution having a role with difficult questions, when life ends and something else begins. It was somehow disturbing to see all these churches abandoned. Why is it so hard to save a church, to conserve it or at least close the doors and let the dead be at peace? When we stepped inside, we didn’t have an ‘unholy’ feeling. We were happy to find extraordinary places, weird places where people don’t usually go. Visiting these places confirmed me that churches are just buildings. They can be forgotten, just like amusement parks, space shuttles or fairy tale castles. There was nothing ‘special’ about these buildings — no one is coming to save them.

K, 6.12.2021