The recession is serving up another good deal, friends. For about R5,4 million you can buy the historic village of Valle Piola in Italy. It’s surrounded by wild and mountainous terrain, and is set in the heart of one of the country’s biggest national parks, Gran Sasso.

Apparently many abandoned hill villages exist in Italy, but Valle Piola is a little bit special. It lies in the middle of the Gran Sasso national park in the central Abruzzo region, an area of the country that has seen a decline in sheep farming, and thus a decline of people population.

The first records of the village date back to 1059, and it is set amongst a backdrop of mountains in the Apennines.

View across the valley…

Your purchase will consist of 11 crumbling stone buildings, including a half-ruined 13th century church and two shepherds’ houses.

Daniele Palumbi, mayor of nearby town Torricella Sicura had this to say:

It’s been deserted for about 30 years. It’s a beautiful spot, a real jewel, and the buildings are all made of local stone.

We’re not giving an estimate of how much it would cost to make the houses habitable – it will be up to the buyer to come up with a plan. There’s been a lot of interest from potential buyers in Italy, though nothing from abroad so far because it has not been widely publicised.

It could be turned into private homes or some sort of tourist development.

Apparently a Swedish-Italian entrepreneur, Santo Stefano, has made a success of a similar purchase made a few years ago. He turned the village into what Italians call an albergo diffuse. Basically the village becomes one big spread-out hotel and guests occupy individual buildings.

Anyone interested in buying the village should contact Giacomo Ciapanna, the surveyor in charge of the sale, by emailing vallepiola@gmail.com or calling +39 3384754099.

[Source: Telegraph]