The key to reviving a crumbling ghost town? Make it Instagrammable

After years spent on the decline, this small city in Italy has transformed into a bustling tourist town, where visitors flock from across the world to snap photos of the town’s now-famous murals.Stornara, a once-prosperous city in Puglia, was well-known for its production of agricultural goods like wheat and olives, but as the population shifted — younger people began to stop settling down where they were raised, instead moving away from the town in favor of more job opportunities in bigger cities.

Though some locals began to resign themselves to the empty streets and broken-down buildings, Lino Lombardi, an artist, decided to try to bring the city back to life.Though other Italian towns are known for their collections of Renaissance paintings or their preserved Roman ruins, Lombardi offered up Stramurales, an annual street art festival.Lombardi, along with artists from across the world, painted murals on buildings across the town.

While 2018, the first year of the festival, was a relatively slow start — six murals were produced — there are now over 140 in Stornara, adding plenty of color and life to the town that locals and tourists alike have enjoyed.According to SWNS, tourist-based revenue has increased 25% since 2020, allowing eight new businesses — three bed and breakfasts, two restaurants, and an art supplies shop included.“Suddenly, there were loads of people turning up with cameras and guidebooks.

I had to quickly learn to say ‘welcome’ in five different languages,” explained cafe owner Antonio Maglione in an interview with SWNS.“The murals saved my business, but more than that, they saved our community.”Lombardi says that the murals that decorate over a hundred town walls are inspired by a variety of themes, including the city’s history, migration within Italy, and the importance of the citizens as the core of the town.

“We had lost our pride, but the murals reminded us that our town and our stories are worth celebrating,” sa...