A heartwarming video out of Italy has gone viral for showing the ways in which locals are staying united and connected during the country-wide lockdown.
In the clip, neighbors along a deserted street in Siena, Tuscany, can be heard joining voices as they lean out of open windows and sing to each other in a shining example of the humanity that can come out of crisis.
Italy has been hit especially hard by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and has reported the highest number of cases, second only to China.
As of writing, the country has experienced 1,016 deaths from the virus, with a total of 15,113 reported infections.
On March 9, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte imposed a national quarantine on the entire country.
This effectively put Italy into lockdown and forced its residents into isolation.
As per USA Today sporting events have been canceled, weddings and funerals outlawed, and residents are only allowed to leave their homes with a signed document stating they know the risk they’re taking.
Now, as the country comes to a total standstill, the video of the singing neighbors offers a ray of hope during the otherwise bleak moment in time.
Twitter user David Allegranti posted the video and wrote in the translated caption, “In Siena, the city to which I am very attached, you stay at home but sing together as if you were on the street. I was moved.”
The song the neighbors sing is called *Canto della Verbena (And While Siena Sleeps)*.
It is a beloved folk song that is typically sung to express local and Tuscan pride. The lyrics include such translated lines as,
“And while Siena sleeps, everything is silent and the moon lights up the Tower.
Sense in the dark, alone in the peace, the subdued Fonte Gaia. That a song sings, of love and passion…
Verbena is born in Piazza del Campo. Long live our Siena, long live our Siena!”
The hauntingly beautiful video was uploaded on March 12 and has since gone viral.
In less than 24 hours it has racked up over 13,000 likes and nearly 5,000 retweets as people remark on just how heartwarming of a sound it is to hear the unseen neighbors singing together.
Understandably, the comments are filled with people who have been moved by the touching video.
“Humanity is beautiful,” this user wrote, while another added, “Leave it to the Italians to find beauty in tragedy.”
Since the clip went viral, Siena residents have organized a citywide rendition of the same song, sung from open windows.
According to the event’s Facebook post , it is set to take place on March 15 at 9 PM. Residents are invited to take part from the safety of their own homes to fill the streets of Siena with beautiful music.
RELATED STORIES
“The intent of the initiative of March 15th is to pass a few minutes of leisure and emotion during this dark period,” the translated post reads.
It goes on to outline several rules for participants to follow, including staying in their house to sing, not going outside to take a video, and not gathering at anyone else’s house to take part in the song.
Unified singing has been heard elsewhere in the country, too.
This video shows neighbors in Napoli taking to their balconies and singing local songs together during their lockdown, prompting even more heartfelt comments from people online.
“Where’s life there’s hope [sic],” this user wrote, while someone else added, “Stay strong, it will be tough for coming days, but finally brightness will come back.”
