However Matera lately attracted consideration of a distinct sort, after a London-based parkour group carried out stunts there — and broken a historic constructing within the course of.
The stunt comes amid growing scrutiny of the toll of human exercise — from vacationers to influencers, avenue artists and athletes — on historic cities and monuments. Many cities have put in place measures to curb overtourism, whereas some have banned guests from sure sizzling spots due to reviews of dangerous conduct.
In Matera, the traceurs — the identify of those that follow parkour, which consists of leaping, working, climbing and extra to journey throughout constructions — recorded themselves performing a stunt on a constructing and inflicting a protruding stone to fall off.
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“Disguise the proof,” a voice behind the digicam will be heard instructing a member of the crew in a video revealed in April by the globe-trotting parkour group Staff Phat.
Neither the town, nor UNESCO, nor Staff Phat responded to requests for remark from The Washington Submit on Tuesday.
Staff Phat beforehand claimed accountability for a stunt in Venice wherein a person threw himself off a constructing right into a canal — prompting the mayor to name him an “fool” and vow to arrest him. The group later mentioned it obtained a effective and was banned from the town.
Within the 23-minute lengthy model of the video filmed in Matera, a member of Staff Phat will be heard saying, “We’ve been banned from Venice, so we are able to by no means return. So, we’ve come to the closest factor to it.”
The video reveals the traceurs performing stunts throughout Matera. Ultimately, considered one of them will be heard suggesting to Devon McIntosh, a member of the crew, that he use a stone jutting from the aspect of a constructing to launch himself to a different rooftop.
“It’s steady sufficient you could simply hold on it, however I’m scared it might simply break,” the particular person will be heard telling McIntosh. “You’re a bit lighter than me, so it may be extra of a you problem. … Prepare to leap.”
Within the video, McIntosh first efficiently jumps on the stone and launches himself from it onto the alternative rooftop. Two others are then filmed doing the identical soar, with one showing to linger on the stone. Then, the footage reveals McIntosh doing the soar once more — and the stone provides away below his ft, whereas he plummets to the bottom. He exclaims to the digicam that he damage his ankle, and later reveals what look like accidents on his thigh and elbow.
“We have been actually trusting that factor an excessive amount of,” he says.
A clip of the stunt, which has been considered 2.4 million instances because it was posted on Instagram two weeks in the past, sparked offended reactions on-line, with many customers commenting that parkour must be practiced with extra take care of the encompassing surroundings.
“Even when the spots are loopy Matera shouldn’t be used as a parkour park, that stone might have been there earlier than the invention of America and even earlier,” wrote one commenter, who mentioned he’s Italian and practices parkour.
“It was actually incorrect to interrupt that rock that seemingly had a whole lot of historical past and satisfaction for the house owners and unique builders,” one other commenter mentioned.
As journey has turn into extra reasonably priced and accessible, reviews of dangerous conduct from guests have elevated. Final yr, the supervisor of a villa in northern Italy mentioned a 150-year-old statue toppled over and shattered after German vacationers tried to take an image with it, in response to Reuters. In 2022, a Saudi customer drove a Maserati down the world-famous Spanish Steps in Rome, damaging them, in response to police; two weeks later, an American vacationer threw an electrical scooter down the Spanish Steps, inflicting about $27,000 price of damages.
Individuals have additionally been criticized for utilizing monuments as sports activities arenas. In 2021, a Singaporean man was charged with willfully interfering with a nationwide monument after he wakeboarded at a struggle memorial within the metropolis state, in response to the Straits Occasions.
