8 Striking Lost Cities and Structures Reclaimed by Nature

2. Valle dei Mulini, Italy

Old water mills in Valle dei Mulini, Sorrento, Italy.

Image Credit: Luciano Mortula - LGM / Shutterstock

Since as early as the 13th century, Italy’s Valle dei Mulini, which translates to Valley of Mills, was home to a number of prosperous flour mills that supplied the surrounding area with ground wheat. The mills were built at the bottom of a deep valley to make use of the stream that runs through its base.

Other industrial buildings soon followed the flour mills, with a sawmill and a wash house also constructed in the valley. But the flour mill was rendered obsolete when modern pasta mills began to populate the wider area. In the 1940s, the Valle dei Mulini’s buildings were abandoned, and they remain so to this day. They’re best viewed from Viale Enrico Caruso, from which visitors can peer down upon the once-thriving industrial plants.
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