Globe School / Scuola Marco Polo, Italy

The long-abandoned Globe School sits in a small Italian village; it has been many years since the last children attended. Now the school is closed, the only visitors are photographers on road trips across Italy in search of the beauty that lies within lost places such as this.

The location name, Globe School, refers to a globe that once stood (or was placed) on the teacher’s desk. Sadly, this has been stolen at some point, as it would have made a nice focal point for some photos. Another (older) name for this location is Scuola Marco Polo.

Exploring the Italian Globe School

Most of the school is empty rooms, or ransacked rooms littered with loose paper and paraphernalia. In fact, most people only ever photograph the main classroom area on the top floor. This classroom is indeed beautiful, with its detailed ceiling frescoes and cute children’s desks. During my visit in 2022, I was lucky enough to have a relaxed schedule on this day. I decided to search the school for other shots; there must be other interesting things to document here. The overturned, chaotic rooms weren’t of interest to me, so I pressed on. walking every corridor systematically, and opening every door to glance inside.

Eventually, my wandering feet and peeping eyes were rewarded. Yes, Globe School did have more to offer! I opened a door that was precariously hanging from only one of its hinges. Inside was a bedroom, the living area of the teacher. A neatly made bed, and a long table on which stand a delightfully retro TV and some crispy-textured dead plants. Additionally, the central blue staircase offered a nice photo or two (requiring a bit of squashing into a corner to make the shot work, but I was happy with the result in the end). A small kitchen, a corridor, and a side room with a desk against a window also made interesting additional photos to the main classroom.

Some history of the abandoned Scuola Marco Polo

Globe School was probably built in the early 1900s. The school is said to have been founded by a priest, which seems likely due to the proximity to the church and some of the religious items inside the school. In these rural communities, children usually worked on the surrounding farmland with their parents. Opportunities beyond this were limited, and school education was generally unavailable to the majority. With this in mind, a priest opened this school to give the children of the villages a basic education and open up more options for securing other work.

Information online suggest the school closed in the 1960s.