Parkour Stunt Damages Historic Italian Building

Approximately one million people every year flock to the town of Matera in southern Italy. It's believed to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site thanks to its iconic cave dwellings dating back thousands of years. 

The delicate buildings aren't immune to disrespectful tourists, however. London-based parkour group Team Phat paid a visit to the city and filmed themselves doing stunts on some of the ancient buildings. In one clip that has gone viral, parkour traceur Devon McIntosh is seen jumping from a rooftop on to the side of a building below, using a stone jutting out of the building for stability. Unsurprisingly, when he tried to step on it, it fell off, permanently coming off the building and leaving the traceur on the ground with some injuries.

A longer video documenting the group's experience in Matera gave an inside look at the stunt. "It’s stable enough that you can just hang on it, but I’m scared it could just break," the person filming told McIntosh. “You’re a bit lighter than me, so it might be more of a you challenge… Get ready to jump." After the brick fell off the building, he urged them to "Hide the evidence."

It's the latest harebrained stunt that Team Phat has found themselves in hot water for. Last year, they angered officials in Venice after a man jumped from a building into the canal. According to their Matera video, that incident led them to be banned from the city. 

It remains to be seen whether they're hit with a ban from Matera too.