Untold Italy · Friday, September 4, 2026
Despite its natural beauty, Italy struggles with severe light pollution, ranking among the worst globally per capita. Ed Cutler notes that large areas, especially in northern Italy, are heavily illuminated, leaving few genuinely dark patches, though some rural areas in Tuscany and national parks in Abruzzo and Calabria offer exceptions.
“Italy actually suffers from some. Of the worst light pollution in the world per capita.”
“So if you look at the night map of Italy, you'll see that, I mean, the whole of the north of Italy is just lit up like a Christmas tree and And actually, there's very few really genuinely dark patches left.”
“The Comune of Manciano nearby was declared the darkest sky in Italy a year or two ago. So we still can see them.”