On Friday, October 30, thousands of students, workers, pensioners and truck drivers marched in more than 50 Italian cities, including Rome, Milan, Naples and Turin—under heavy police guard. The USB grassroots union’s general strike targeted soaring food, rent and fuel costs, education cuts, rearmament and support for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government. Protests followed weeks of unrest, including riots and looting in Milan earlier in October.

In the above context, a video is being widely shared on social media in which a massive fire tearing through a historic building can be seen. The video is shared with a caption claiming it shows protesters setting a centuries-old monastery ablaze in Italy during the recent wave of unrest across Europe.

A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “Italy - 400-year-old monastery burned down by rioters.”

SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral video is from a 2025 accidental fire in Italy.

On a Google Reverse Image Search, we found that the same video was shared by WION on October 12, 2025, with a caption that reads, “Italy: Massive Fire Engulfs Italian Monastery | WION Shorts”

We further found that the incident was also reported by Money Control on October 13, 2025. The report associated with the video suggests that a fire, believed to have been caused by a short circuit, broke out late Saturday at the nearly 400-year-old Bernaga Monastery in La Valletta Brianza, northern Italy. All 21 cloistered nuns escaped safely; 19 were relocated to Ponte Lambro and two were hospitalised. The blaze destroyed the roof and priceless religious paintings and artefacts.

The incident was also reported by the BBC.

Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.