Italy’s government plans to sell its 50 historic sites to private investors in order to raise 500 million euros needed to obey strict EU austerity rules. These historic castles and villas should be converted into hotels, restaurants and museums to create jobs for state’s economy. Some of the villas on the sale list are the Orsini Castle near Rome, which was built for Pope Nicholas III in the 1270s, which was used as a prison between the mid-19th century and 1989, and according to local superstition is believed to be haunted, as well as Villa Mirabello near Milan, built in the 18th century by Cardinal Durini, the Grand Inquisitor of Malta and the Island of San Giacomo, which was a home for monks since the 11th century, but was later converted into a military base in the 1800s and left abandoned in 1961 to crumble into ruins.
Italy isn’t the first state who dare to take this step. Last year, Greece sold several beaches, islands and ski resorts to keep the budget in balance.
