Italians on coronavirus lockdown in their houses have been singing together from their windows and balconies in cities across the country.
Despite appearing completely deserted due to quarantine, the streets of Italian cities like Naples, Rome, Siena, Torino, Cagliari, Benevento, Lecce, and Salerno were nonetheless filled with song and life.
La Stampa assembled a compilation of the social media videos of Italians on lockdown serenading each other.
In the beautiful city of Siena — located in the country’s Tuscany region — chants of “long live Siena” rang through the barren streets, as proud Italians quarantined in their homes sang their city’s well-known folk song in unison from their windows.
Siena, like the rest of Italy, remains in lockdown to stop the spread of the Chinese coronavirus throughout the nation.
A video of the moment was posted to social media, where it went viral.
Watch below:
“In Siena, the city to which I am very attached, you stay at home but you sing together as if you were on the street. I was moved,” tweeted Italian journalist David Allegranti.
The song, entitled “Canto della Verbena” (Song of the Verbena) — also known as “E mentre Siena dorme” (While Siena Sleeps) — is sung to show local pride in Siena.
Below are the lyrics translated to English:
Verbena is born in Piazza del Campo
Long live our Siena, long live our Siena
Verbena is born in Piazza del Campo
Long live our Siena, the most beautiful city!
Siena is not the only city to be filled with song while its streets remain empty, as similar heartwarming moments can be seen echoing across Italy in other cities and villages.
On Monday, Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte announced that he was expanding travel restrictions to cover the entire country in an attempt to stop the Wuhan coronavirus from continuing to proliferate throughout the nation.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo and on Instagram.
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