Vallone dei Mulini

The Vallone dei Mulini, also known as the "Valley of the Mills," is located directly in the center of the thriving coastal town of Sorrento. It was so named in honor of the flour and saw mills that once operated inside the rocky cleft. The gorge's humidity increased dramatically after the Piazzo Tasso was constructed in 1866, cutting off the gorge from the sea.

Though the final mill was abandoned at the turn of the 20th century, the high humidity cultivated a microclimate ideal for plant development. Ruins and the surrounding area become fully overgrown as the abandoned buildings fell to pieces. In the deep crevice, fern species like Phyllitis Scolopendrium13 thrive. An ethereal vision of a post-human world completely reclaimed by nature can be seen in the ensuing tableau.

Online images of the location from 2006 quickly became popular. A private firm, seeking to take advantage of the city's subsequent rise in tourists, began to rebuild the abandoned mill. When the areas of vegetation that had originally made the region so alluring were destroyed in 2019, both locals and visitors were appalled. Since then, no more work has been done, allowing nature to reclaim the Vallone dei Mulini from human intrusion.

• Country: Italy