21 Photos of Italy on Lockdown, From a Vacant Colosseum to Empty Churches on Easter

A European Union flag flies on a balcony over Venice’s canals on April 5. The canals in Venice are clearer than they have been for a long time, due to the decreased boat traffic.

Two of Venice’s most-visited spots—St. Mark’s Square and St. Mark’s Basilica—sit nearly deserted at sunset. Before the pandemic, the church limited visitors, and there would often be a long line of people waiting to enter.

The Piazza dei Miracoli and Tower of Pisa are seen deserted on April 2—an extremely rare site, given that over 1 million people typically visit the leaning landmark every year.

The deserted waterfront of Positano, a colorful village (and popular tourist destination) along Italy’s Amalfi Coast. Hotels in the area have delayed opening for the season until June or later, as have restaurants and cafés.

A drone captures a photo of an almost deserted Colosseum, one of the many empty tourist destinations in Italy. Rome’s most famous landmarks (including the Colosseum and Pantheon) closed their doors to visitors back in March.

A view of the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, sometime around sunset on March 21. The streets of Venice are mostly empty, save those waiting six feet apart to buy food at the supermarkets.

Two people look out their windows on March 20 in Venice. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro recently announced that the city will be postponing its much-anticipated tourist tax for a year amid the coronavirus crisis.

A pair of newlyweds pose for pictures in an empty Piazza del Campidoglio, one of Rome’s most popular public squares. As part of Italy’s lockdown, only spouses and wedding witnesses are allowed to participate in weddings.

The Spanish Steps sit completely empty on April 4. The steps leading up to the Trinità dei Monti are so popular amongst tourists, the Roman government started fining people $450 for sitting on them in 2019.

A line of customers wait to enter a supermarket in Milan on April 9. Due to the COVID-19 emergency, people must stand at least six feet apart in line and have their temperatures scanned before entering the grocery store.

In the city of Salerno on Good Friday (April 10), Bishop Andrea Bellandi drove through the streets to bless healthcare workers and the sick from the back of a truck.

Pope Francis attends the Stations of the Cross (a 14-step Catholic devotion that commemorates Jesus Christ’s last day on Earth) in an empty St. Peter’s Square on Good Friday.

Since all church services were canceled this Easter, one pastor in Venice asked his parishioners for their photographs, then placed them in the sanctuary and performed Mass for them on Easter Sunday.

Pope Francis delivers his blessing after the recitation of the Regina Caeli (a sung prayer dedicated to the Virgin Mary) from the window of his private library, overlooking an empty St. Peter’s Square on April 13.

Italian tenor and opera singer Andrea Bocelli rehearses on a deserted Piazza del Duomo in central Milan on April 12, prior to a live streamed evening performance to help people celebrate Easter Sunday from home. (You can watch the performance now on Bocelli’s YouTube page.)

Elderly residents watch from their apartment as a Palm Sunday mass is performed on the rooftop of the San Gabriele dell’Addolorata church in Rome on April 5.

An empty beach is seen on April 13 in Catania, Sicily, one of Italy’s most popular beach destinations. Mt. Etna stands in the background, still covered with snow.

 Burano’s Baldassare Galuppi Square, part of the Venetian Lagoon, is empty in this photo taken on April 2. Known for its brightly colored buildings, the island is usually teeming with tourists eager to get the perfect Instagram shot.

A handful of Venetians use a waterway transport ferry on March 18, about a week after the entire country went into lockdown.

A pedestrian walks past closed luxury shops and restaurants in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Italy’s oldest shopping mall and a popular tourist destination in Milan.