![]() ![]() In fact, the village was once renowned for its artisan shoemakers and cobblers. The 'dodda', or annual dowry festival Nicola Scapillatiīut Scapillati would like to recover the glory of past days when Castropignano was a flourishing feudal center buzzing with artisans, merchants and travelers crossing Italy, protected by a powerful duke. Today, 60% of residents are over 70 years old. ![]() After World War II, families emigrated in search of a better future then, from the 1960s, the young people started moving to larger towns to study and find work. Today, there are barely 900 residents, down from 2,500 in the 1930s. It’s not buzzing with life, that I must say, but it’s peaceful and simple”, he adds. “Here we’ve got nothing grand to offer except peacefulness, silence, pristine nature, oxygen-rich air, great views and fantastic food, ideal to detox from the daily stress. I’m driven by passion and love for my hometown,” he says.Īnd although Castropignano isn’t exactly a lively place – it has just one restaurant, a bar, a pharmacy and a few B&Bs – he thinks it has a sleepy allure. “I want to stop the decline in its tracks, keep the village flame alive. ![]() He returned on a mission to preserve the architecture of the village, in the hope that it can keep their traditions going. Scapillati – whose family emigrated to work in Italy’s richer north – felt the pull of his origins as an adult. They could collapse any minute – it’s also a matter of making the village safe”. Without renovation these buildings are a threat. “I don’t want my town invaded by a property stampede or to turn into the latest housing speculation deal.” “I’m moving along two parallel paths, reaching out both to potential buyers and old owners at the same time, step by step, to make demand meet supply. “The scheme here works a bit differently,” he says. There are roughly 100 abandoned buildings here, but rather than sell to the highest bidder, mayor Nicola Scapillati wants to match interested parties with the right house for them. However, unlike most of the schemes, which auction off dilapidated buildings from €1, or $1.20, Castropignano is doing things differently. It follows in the steps of Salemi in Sicily and Santo Stefano di Sessanio in Abruzzo, both of which have launched initiatives to encourage newcomers in the last month. Yes, Italy’s €1 homes are back – and this time, what’s up for grabs is a collection of houses in the southern region of Molise.Ĭastropignano – a village topped by a ruined medieval castle, 140 miles southeast of Rome – is the latest community to offer up its abandoned buildings to newcomers. You wait a while for a house that’s practically given away to you, and then three come along at once. ![]()
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