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The Faraglioni di Sant’Andrea, an iconic natural arch carved into the coastal cliffs of Salento—Italy’s “boot” heel—has been a romantic destination for generations. It has long been a place where lovers propose, share first kisses, and celebrate their unions.
According to local folklore, those who shared a kiss beneath the arch were destined to enjoy eternal love.
However, a fierce storm that swept through southern Italy over the weekend caused the arch’s delicate structure to collapse into rubble.
This loss is a “devastating blow to the image of Salento and to tourism,” remarked Maurizio Cisternino, the mayor of Melendugno, the town nearest to the fallen arch, in a statement to CNN.
“It’s a blow to the heart,” he added.
The arch was formed by centuries of harsh wind and high seas grinding away at the Calcarenite stone cliffs of Italy’s Puglia region, on the turquoise waters of the Adriatic Sea.
The site, once a strategic lookout used to warn of pirates, became a magnet for lovers during the late 18th century.
Instagram photos have drawn thousands more couples to the arch in recent years, Cisternino said.
Because it’s free and open to the public, it’s impossible to know exactly how many, he added.
Lorenzo Barlato, a local resident, proposed to his wife on the clifftop overlooking the arch more than 40 years ago and the pair often returned for anniversaries.
“I couldn’t wait to return,” he posted on Facebook after Saturday’s collapse.
“Now, unfortunately, all I have left are the many beautiful photos I took of that piece of paradise.”
The area is so popular that hotels and resorts — many named for the arch — have sprung up to accommodate visitors.
Warmer sea temperatures as a result of climate change are seen as a factor in driving the extreme weather that battered the arch, which had already been damaged by Cyclone Harry in January.
But concern over the landmark’s fragility goes back years.
In 2024, local authorities applied for a $4.5 million grant to fund a preservation project to combat coastal erosion, but failed to secure the money, according to Cisternino.
“It’s a tragedy we knew was inevitable, we just didn’t expect it to happen so soon,” he told local media on Sunday.
He told CNN that “nature has reclaimed the arch, just as it created it,” and said that resources were needed to tackle the situation along the coast.
“Nature has been transformed: what was there 30 years ago is no longer there.”
The collapse follows weeks of violent storms across southern Italy.
In Sicily, a landslide recently saw houses fall into a ravine in the town of Niscemi.
Widespread flooding has taken the lives of several people, including a man who died when his home collapsed near Rome last week.
Now gone, the remnants of the arch will be left to wash out at sea, the municipality says.
“It’s like a funeral,” Puglia tourism councillor Francesco Stella said Sunday of what was once one of the happiest places in Italy.
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