Visit it while you still can - Famous European town to disappear by 2030?

Florence (Photo: Teodora Brnjoš)

In the first three decades, 120.000 people lived in the town. Today, Florence has only 55.000 residents. The forecast show the town will disappear by 2030. The reason is expensive life, etc.

Florence is definitely one of the most beautiful towns in the world. Still, this Italian town located on 118 islands crossed by 170 canals, with more than 400 bridges, is about to disappear by 20130, "Telegraf" reports.

Although everyone probably thinks that it is slowly sinking into the sea, the reason for decline is the fact that conditions for living there are bad as well as that the town is very expensive.

Namely, although Florence is visited by 20 million tourists per year, only half of them pays an overnight stay in a hotel. Although in the previous 25 years, the number of tourists in that town on water increased five times, hotels in Florence have been generating great losses.

Apart from that, restaurants are failing since tourists opt for eating something as a take away or buy a sandwich which they will eat while taking a ride in gondolas along some of numerous canals.

Diego Rendolfi (49), one of the gondoliers who have been taking tourists in Florence for 15 years, says he earns EUR 131.000 per year but that it is not enough to afford a flat in Florence.

He lives with his wife who is American in one of the nearby islands since flat rent is cheaper there.