Abandoned Italian Villages for Sale. Schemes and Instructions

You’ve probably read about the possibility of buying an abandoned village in Italy, but encountered too few real offers.

All because, for a genuine purchase of a deteriorating village, effort is required. We will try to do that for you. Keep reading.

If you find the information helpful, you can show your appreciation by using the links below to book your trip or accommodation. This will help support our small project, which aims to reduce the number of elderly left without assistance in abandoned villages and draw more attention to such settlements.

Abandoned Villages in Italy for Sale 2023-2024

We begin with real stories of such purchases, and then explore the opportunities to buy a village in 2023 and 2024. But first, let’s understand how these villages come into existence and what might be useful for us:

Let’s assume that the local residents have left the village, abandoning their homes, mansions, and old villas. The budget dries up, and services cease to operate. At this moment, the village becomes ‘lost.’

But despite the fact that people no longer live there, it still has an owner. After all, you can’t just roam through the olive groves, stumble upon an old abandoned village, and say, ‘Hmm… someone lost a village here. Let it be mine. What a great find!’

Its owner is the state of Italy, and from here arises a simple yet important conclusion: Abandoned villages are not sold by private individuals. If you want to buy a village, you need to inquire with official authorities. Whom to ask? – you might wonder, and we’ll answer:

The First Way to Buy an Abandoned Village in Italy

There is a special agency for cultural heritage called Agenzia del Demanio.

Official website: https://www.agenziademanio.it/it/ ( And this is only the first way. We’ll talk about the second one further )

 It is here that abandoned lighthouses, villages, chapels, warehouses, and other very interesting properties are sold. Keep in mind that this is not a simple sale; it’s a competition and an auction. Typically, each such place already has conditions for sale and investment decisions. But there’s no need to be afraid of that. Purchasing an entire Italian village is worthy of the front page of The New York Times, not to mention Airbnb potential. We are confident that you will succeed! And just in case, we remind you that we love dry red wine. After all, this information is worth it.

The Second Way to Buy an Abandoned Village is Based on Real Stories

This is the path taken by several businessmen that may prove useful to you, especially if you have a significant project.

Inevitably, there are times when we find ourselves traveling extensively and leaving the place where we were born and spent our childhood. These memories call us back to a time when we were carefree and happy. Sometimes, this can mark the beginning of a new story, as it did for Cesidio Di Ciacca. He returned to the region of his joyful childhood and sweet figs, purchasing the house where it all began.

Now, it has become a popular spot in the village of Picinisco in the Abruzzo region. You can order on Booking via the link.

It is truly a breathtaking place with vineyards, orchards, and the charming Italian atmosphere.

Official website: https://iciacca.com/

The revival of abandoned villages has sparked the creation of new types of hotels, converted from restored buildings. In Italy, this type of hotel is known as “Albergo diffuso” and is now inspiring businesses throughout Europe.

One such example in Italy is Santo Stefano in the mountains of Abruzzo, where abandoned houses have been transformed into hotel rooms.

To book and explore, to draw inspiration from their experience, click here: Booking Link.

Approximately 5 million euros were invested in the village, and it has now become a successful project with high occupancy rates despite the room costs. The complex includes a winery, its own bakery, and land for cultivating natural products.

We are preparing a comprehensive article on widespread hotels, and if you are interested in learning more, subscribe to our newsletter. This article will be released soon.

Read also: Abandoned villas in Italy for sale

Where to Find Abandoned Villages?

If in the first case, you need to approach a government organization, create an investment plan, or a development plan for application submission, in this scenario, research and our article will be essential.

For instance, here is a table of regions suffering from depopulation. If you begin searching for villages in their vicinity, you have a chance for significant success.

Carrara	(Province of Massa Carrara)
Fivizzano	(Province of Massa Carrara)
Massa	(Province of Massa Carrara)
Zeri	(Province of Massa Carrara)
Barga	(Province of Lucca)
Careggine	(Province of Lucca)
Lucca	(Province of Lucca)
Fabbriche di Vergemoli	(Province of Lucca)
Murlo	(Province of Siena)
Poggibonsi	(Province of Siena)
Rapolano Terme	(Province of Siena)
Firenzuola	(Province of Florence)
Bagno a Ripoli	(Province of Florence)
Monteverdi Marittimo	(Province of Pisa)
Palaia	(Province of Pisa)
Campo nell’Elba	(Province of Livorno)
Castiglione della Pescaia	(Province of Grosseto)

Additionally, significant numbers of completely abandoned areas are found in the regions of Campania, Calabria, and Sardinia.

You can also refer to the network: The Network of the Most Beautiful Villages in Italy, as they gather information on the investment attractiveness of regions and possess up-to-date information on-site. Official website: https://borghipiubelliditalia.it/

This organization covers a large part of Italy but not entirely. If you are fond of numbers, let’s turn to the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat).

It’s not a straightforward tool, and it takes time to fully understand, but if you’re thinking like an investor and are comfortable with mathematics, you can extract interesting business data from it: https://esploradati.istat.it/databrowser/#/en/dw/dashboards

You may also find some graphs useful:

Schedule 1:

They give a general picture of municipalities where demographics began to decline and housing costs began to fall.

To make it easier to search, we immediately included a map of Italy here:

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