A desert called Foce

Sibillini Mountains, Marche

Desert in Latin has a double meaning: abandoned and neglected by people or left uncultivated. Foce di Montemonaco, a small village in the Appennine Mountains, in the heart of Italy, was severely ruined by the 2016 Central Italy Earthquake.

Nowadays only 5 people are still living in Foce and on the last summer no tourists came. Three young Romanian guys use to work in Foce as seasonal lumberjacks.

The state of abandon of this place in the middle of nothing reflects the landscape f chopped woods cut by these three workers, who themselves had to leave their home to find a job that no Italians are willing to do.

Foce is a small hamlet of Montemonaco in the Sibillini Mountains. After the earthquake in 2016, the majority of the houses were destroyed. A year later, only 5 people still live there and Foce is in a state of abandon.

Seasonal lumberjacks come from Romania to work temporarily in these territories.

The lumber industry still survives, despite the drop of productivity due to the earthquake.

Foce can be reached through a single road that enters a very narrow gorge and stops right in front of the slopes of Monte Sibilla and Monte Vettore. From there you can continue only on foot.

The seasonal lumberjacks work full time and their work condition are really tough. Their lunch break is around a bonfire and they often camp out for the night to save money.

A sheet of chopped wood covers the backside of the mountains in Foce.

You can reach Piana della Gardosa in 15 minutes walking. Before the earthquake, many tourists use to camp here.

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A desert called Foce

Desert in Latin has a double meaning: abandoned and neglected by people or left uncultivated. Foce di Montemonaco, a small village in the Appennine Mountains, in the heart of Italy, was severely ruined by the 2016 Central Italy Earthquake.

Nowadays only 5 people are still living in Foce and on the last summer no tourists came. Three young Romanian guys use to work in Foce as seasonal lumberjacks.

The state of abandon of this place in the middle of nothing reflects the landscape f chopped woods cut by these three workers, who themselves had to leave their home to find a job that no Italians are willing to do.