This Village Celebrates Arrival Of First Baby Born In 30 Years — How Can You Visit This Place? Is It In India?

After years of waiting, in March 2025, the tiny Italian village of Pagliara dei Marsi finally rejoiced, and the reason behind the joy — a new baby. Lara Bussi Trabucco became the first baby born in the community in almost three decades, prompting celebrations in a settlement that had long been synonymous with silence and decline.

Young families moved away, schools closed and the few remaining residents watched the population shrink year after year.

Italian village welcomes baby after three decades

The baby girl, named Lara, was born to Cinzia Trabucco and Paolo Bussi. For the couple, the birth was personal joy; for the village, it became a community event. Almost every resident attended her christening. People who had once left the village returned

for a visit, and complete strangers stopped by simply because the story had spread. In a place where the average age is high and houses sit locked for most of the year, a newborn instantly changed the mood.

Lara’s mother told The Guardian, “People who didn’t even know Pagliara dei Marsi existed have come, only because they had heard about Lara. At just nine months old, she’s famous.”

Pagliara dei Marsi lies in the Abruzzo region and today counts only a few dozen residents. Like many mountain villages in Italy, it has faced steady depopulation. Jobs are scarce, public transport is limited, and younger people have built new lives in cities. Over time, the village church, bar and small square became gathering spots mainly for the elderly.

Population problem across Italy

As per Istat, the national statistics agency, in 2024, births in the country reached a historic low of 369,944, continuing a 16-year negative trend. The parents said they decided to stay despite these challenges. Financial support schemes introduced by the Italian government, including baby bonuses and monthly child benefits, helped with practical concerns, but the choice was also emotional; they wanted their child to grow up in the place they call home.

The couple received €1,000 “baby bonus” and also received €370 child support every month, thanks to Giorgia Meloni’s policies. Italy as a whole is dealing with a record low birth rate. The country has been losing young residents to bigger economies abroad, while many couples delay having children due to cost-of-living pressures and unstable employment. Some towns now advertise cheap homes or cash incentives just to keep their communities alive, as per The Guardian.

Lara’s birth does not fix those national problems, but it has become a symbol for Pagliara dei Marsi. Residents speak of her as a reminder that the village is not only a memory of the past but still part of the present. Shops opened specially for celebrations, church bells rang longer than usual, and neighbours who rarely had reason to gather now check in just to ask how the baby is doing.

Whether more families will follow is uncertain. For now, one child has managed to bring back a sense of warmth and conversation to a place that had nearly gone quiet, and that is enough for the people who live there.