Parkour group damages historic Italian building in failed stunt

But Matera recently attracted a different kind of attention after a London-based parkour group performed stunts there – and damaged a historic building in the process.

The stunt comes amid growing scrutiny of human activities – from tourists to influencers, street artists and athletes – in historic cities and monuments. Many cities have taken measures to prevent over-tourism, and some have Visitors are banned from certain hot spots Due to reports of bad behavior.

In Matera, tracers — who practice parco, which involves jumping, running, climbing and more to travel across structures — recorded themselves performing a stunt on a building and falling down a stretch of rock.

“Hide the evidence,” a voice behind the camera is heard instructing a team member video Released by globe-trotting parkour group Team Phat in April.

Neither the city, UNESCO nor Tim Fatt responded to The Washington Post's request for comment on Tuesday.

Team Phat has previously acknowledged a responsibility Stunt in Venice Where a man threw himself from a building into a canal – Requests the mayor Calling him “stupid” and vowing to arrest him. The group later said it had been fined and banned from the city.

In the 23 minute long version The video was shot in Matara, a member of Team Fat can be heard saying, “We've been banned from Venice, so we can never go back. So, that's the closest thing we've come to that.”

The video shows Tracers performing stunts across Matera. Eventually, one of them is heard suggesting to one of the team members, Devon McIntosh, that he use a rock ledge from the side of a building to get himself to another roof.

“It's stable enough that you can hang on it, but I'm afraid it might break,” the man is heard telling McIntosh. “You're a little lighter than me, so it might be more of a challenge for you. … get ready to jump.

In the video, Mackintosh first successfully jumps onto the rock and pulls himself from it to the upside-down roof. Two others are then depicted making the same jump, with one appearing to remain stationary on a rock. Then, the footage shows Mackintosh jumps again — and the rock goes under his feet, as he falls to the ground. He shouts to the camera that he hurt his ankle and later shows what injuries he has to his thigh and elbow.

“We really believed in that thing a lot,” he says.

A Clip The stunt has been viewed 2.4 million times since it was posted on Instagram two weeks ago, sparking angry reactions online, with many users commenting that parkour should be practiced with more care for the environment.

“Even if the spots are crazy, Matera shouldn't be used as a parkour park, that rock could have been there before the discovery of America or even earlier,” wrote one commenter, who said he is Italian and practices parkour.

Another commenter said, “It was really wrong to break that rock that had so much history and pride for the owners and original builders.”

Travel has become more affordable and accessible, reports Bad behavior from visitors increased. Last year, the manager of a villa in northern Italy The 150-year-old statue collapsed And according to Reuters, German tourists collapsed after trying to take a picture with it. In 2022, a Saudi visitor A Maserati flagged down The world-famous Spanish move to Rome, according to the police, harmed them; Two weeks later, one American tourists throw an electric scooter Down the Spanish steps, which cost around $27,000 damage

People have also been criticized for using the memorials as playgrounds. In 2021, a Singaporean man was charged with intentionally tampering with a national monument. Waking up at a war memorial In the city state, according to The Straits Times.