A British parkour group that had already been banned from Venice, has moved on to another historic city in Italy, causing damage to a UNESCO world heritage site and, ironically, hiding the evidence, but then posting the video on YouTube.
Team Phat, a parkour team of 9 members, travels around Europe and shares videos of them jumping on and from public buildings and monuments. In a video posted on 16 April, titled “Parkour in Ancient City of Matera 🇮🇹 | BIG Fail & Huge Jumps!”, one of the group’s members, Devon McIntosh, is shown damaging one of the buildings.
Matera has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1993 for being the “most outstanding, intact example of a troglodyte settlement in the Mediterranean region, perfectly adapted to its terrain and ecosystem.” With the earliest evidence of the city being inhabited dating back to the 10th century BC, it comprises a complex of houses, churches, monasteries and hermitages built into the natural caves of the Murgia.
Jumping from a taller building on a smaller one then planning to jump onto a stone window ledge before getting down, the stunt failed when the sill broke off the building, sending McIntosh to the ground. While he was visibly hurt, albeit with no apparent severe injuries, the group members gave no importance to the damage they had caused. Worse yet, the man filming can be heard telling another to “hide the evidence”.
The video has accumulated over 53,000 views on YouTube and over 250 comments, most of which denouncing the group for their recklessness and disregard of not only world heritage, but private property, as they damaged someone’s house. “Weird that they appreciate how pretty this town is, yet they don’t even feel a little bit bad about breaking an ancient structure”, one of the comments on YouTube reads.
“They make the whole community look bad doing that. I understand they didn’t mean to, but the way they handled it was like stupid children. Running away and then uploading the evidence. They out there acting like a 14 year old TikToker whose mommy never told them no”, another user wrote.
This is not the group’s first display of irresponsibility. In 2023, Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro called for a manhunt for the group after they jumped into the city’s canals. Calling them “delinquents” who “risked their lives”, Brugnaro said “They don’t understand the danger they create in this city. What if a boat would have been passing below?” and banned them from the city.
With little regard for the mayor’s warnings or safety, the group later shared a video titled “Venice Parkour Water Challenges | Defying The Mayor’s Warnings”. It remains to be seen if they will also be banned from Matera or, considering the repetitive misbehaviour, if authorities would consider an overall ban from Italy.
A combination of great visitor numbers and countless open heritage sites has made Italy a recurrent victim of reckless tourists. The incidents spike over the summer, with the increase in footfall, and it seems this year’s season has begun. Only a few examples from last year include a German tourist damaging the 16th century Fountain of Neptune, in Florence for a picture, graffitied historic landmarks, climbing into the Trevi Fountain to fill a water bottle and even carving initials in the Colosseum’s walls.
