Italy is plagued by the so-called “empty crib syndrome.” The country is seeing a steady decline in births with the COVID-19 pandemic only making the outlook gloomier. But there’s one hamlet that fares worse than others and where the syndrome has turned into a chronic disease. Welcome to Fascia, a tiny mountain village of barely 70 residents located in the lovely northern Liguria region.

Fascia is a village steeped in mystery and founded in the middle ages as a fiefdom of the Holy See. It now boasts two records. One: Fascia is famous for being Italy’s “oldest” town—nope, not in the sense of historically ancient, but packed with old folks.