From northern to southern Italy, rising taxes and high maintenance costs have driven dozens of private castles onto the market, Florence-based Lionard Luxury Real Estate said.
"On our website alone we have 37 castles on sale, but we have over 70 across Italy in our portfolio," said Lionard CEO Dimitri Corti. Prices range from 1,200 to 8,500 euros a square meter, with foreign buyers as the prime investors in this type of real estate. Deals can be found in Emilia Romagna, Lazio, Liguria, Piedmont, Tuscany, and Umbria.
In Tuscany, the 5,000-square-meter newly renovated 19th-century Castello di Acquabella, in the splendid natural reserve of Vallombrosa near the abbey by the same name, is on sale for just over 1,000 euros a square meter. About seven kilometers from Siena, the Castle of Sapia is also on sale for 2.5 million euros. In the Chianti countryside near Florence, the imposing Castello di Tavolese, which belonged to the house of Farinata degli Uberti, the family of Petrarca's mother, is also on sale.
It measures 7,676 covered square meters and has 67 hectares of park, a church, and farms.
Over 70 castles on sale in Italy
Manors on the market from north to south