Oscar De Lena is a man with a mission . And a measuring stick . De Lena is president of the local archeological society in the picturesque hamlet of Termoli , on Italy 's Adriatic coast . For the past four years he 's also been self-appointed guardian of Termoli 's claim of being home to Italy 's narrowest alleyway . It 's a boast hotly contested by rival villages , but De Lena is determined to see off all challengers . `` I 've known it since the day of my birth , '' he says . `` So I started measuring it over and over again , up and down , down and up . I 've covered each single point . '' Termoli , a jumble of white cobbled streets and bright-colored houses covered in bougainvillea , is already a draw for visitors to Italy 's Molise region . There 's a cathedral and a castle , both of which still bear the signs of pirate attacks -- every August a festival and firework display commemorates one raid in 1566 . And now there 's the alleyway . Named Rejiecelle , or `` the little street , '' it 's said to date back to a French invasion of 1799 . 'Do n't open an umbrella ' `` It 's just 41 centimeters ( about 16 inches ) wide but in some parts it shrinks down to 38 , '' says De Lena . `` If you 're a bit overweight and your tummy sticks out like mine then you 'll have to walk sideways to squeeze through . Oh , and do n't open an umbrella . '' Since making the discovery , De Lena has made it his life 's work to promote it , traveling across Italy with a meter stick in his suitcase to size up rivals . `` Wherever I go I measure each single street just to make sure we 're the winners . So far , no one has beaten us . At one end of Rejiecelle lies a tantalizing glimpse of the shimmering blue Adriatic . Within its walls , a lingering smell of urine indicates that perhaps not everyone shares De Lena 's pride in the alleyway . `` Local authorities should take greater care of if , place a sign and some lights . It 's one of the city 's jewels , '' he adds . De Lena could have a point . Two other Italian towns , Ripatransone in the Marche region and Citta della Pieve in Umbria , have made identical claims about the width of their alleyways . Both use them to lure in tourists , and bitterly dispute rival claims . Simply called `` the Alley '' , Ripatransone 's well-kept 43 centimeter-wide passage has for decades drawn crowds of visitors to what a sign proclaims is the narrowest in Italy . 'Glowing cobblestones ' The town 's mayor grants a faux-medieval certificate to those who succeed in squeezing through `` a place where bodies shrink and dreams come true . '' Not everyone fits . In Ripatransone , townsfolk speak about the alley with pride . `` Who cares about the other towns ? '' says Carlo Michettoni , a waiter at the nearby Sammagno bar . `` Italy 's tightest pathway is here . '' Ripatransone , dates to prehistoric ages , is also home to a necropolis and seven museums . The strategic clifftop position that once warded off barbarian invaders gives it superb panoramas across the Apennine mountains . Ilene Acquaroli , a tourism official who is also curator of the local archeological museum , says many visitors come just for the alleyway . `` So many people have walked through it the cobblestones glow , '' she says . `` Many others probably had to give up because of claustrophobia . `` They contact ahead the museum for guided tours . We 've been listed in the Guinness Book of Records and we 'll fight till the very end to defend our top attraction . '' Acquaroli dismisses Termoli 's claim , insisting it fails to meet the criteria of a proper alley . To qualify , she says , they must have a window or entrance contain a sidewalk and connect two roads . Bickering neighbors . The third contender , the `` Kisswomen Alley '' in the Umbrian town of Citta della Pieve , fits the bill . At 45 centimeters wide , it was originally set up to divide the estates of two bickering neighbors . According to a sign at its entrance , the romantic name `` springs from the inhabitants ' fertile imagination . '' `` It 's so tight you can easily imagine Renaissance ladies and knights passing by , shyly brushing against each other ... gentlemen kissing ladies ' hands , '' says Fiorella Fringuello at the local tourist office . The Kisswomen pathway opens up to a spellbinding view over local beauty spots including the Chiana Romana valley and Mount Cetona . Here too there 's determination to claim the record . `` We 'll keep on saying that it 's Italy 's narrowest alley , or at least among its narrowest . It 's part of our identity '' , says Fringuello . Back in Termoli , De Lena is still brandishing his measuring stick . `` It 's a matter of historical accuracy . People must know that Termoli has the narrowest alley in Italy . It 's a fact '' , says De Lena . At least until another town claims the record .
De Lena has made it his mission in life to prove his hometown of Italy has Termoli 's smallest alleyway . He faces strong competition from rivals in the towns of Ripatransone and Ripatransone della Pieve . For Ripatransone it 's a matter of pride . For others a lucrative tourist attraction is at stake .