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Italy’s prized historical sites up for sale

Fifty of Italy's prized historical assets are to be auctioned off as part of a plan to help repay the country's national debt. The Local takes a closer look at seven on the list, which includes fortresses, two Venetian islands and the castle which hosted Tom Cruise's Scientology wedding.

Published: 5 November 2013 14:50 CET
Italy's prized historical sites up for sale
Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise (R) were married at Italy's Castello Odescalchi. Photos: Blackcat/Wikimedia Commons (L) and Andrew H Walker/Getty Images North America/AFP (R)

The Italian government is hoping to attract foreign buyers for 50 of its historical sites in a bid to raise €502m over the coming months as part of its 'Kill Public Debt Plan'.  However, the sites can only be used for tourism purposes.

READ MORE: Foreign property investors flock to Italy

The idea was conceived by former Prime Minister Mario Monti and brought to fruition by current leader, Enrico Letta, who scaled back an original list of over 300 properties to 50. 

But the plan has already been marred with opposition against the selling of "local treasures". A commentator on a Facebook page set up to campaign against the sale of the 18th century Villa Mirabellino in Lombardy said the move is a "grave mistake" and "it is the duty of the community to intervene". 

Others, however, pointed to the economic necessity, and the fact that the villa had been left to fall into ruin. One commentator said: "Better private, than public and in a state of decay'.

Click here to see some of the sites for sale

Do you think Italy is being too hasty with selling off its assets? Leave your comments below.

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ACCIDENT

German tourists among 13 dead in Italy cable car accident

Thirteen people, including German tourists, have been killed after a cable car disconnected and fell near the summit of the Mottarone mountain near Lake Maggiore in northern Italy.

Published: 23 May 2021 14:15 CEST
Updated: 23 May 2021 16:46 CEST
German tourists among 13 dead in Italy cable car accident
The local emergency services published this photograph of the wreckage. Photo: Vigili del Fuoco

The accident was announced by Italy’s national fire and rescue service, Vigili del Fuoco, at 13.50 on Sunday, with the agency saying over Twitter that a helicopter from the nearby town of Varese was on the scene. 

Italy’s National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps confirmed that there were 13 victims and two seriously injured people.

Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported that German tourists were among the 13 victims.

According to their report, there were 15 passengers inside the car — which can hold 35 people — at the time a cable snapped, sending it tumbling into the forest below. Two seriously injured children, aged nine and five, were airlifted to hospital in Turin. 

The cable car takes tourists and locals from Stresa, a resort town on Lake Maggiore up to a panoramic peak on the Mottarone mountain, reaching some 1,500m above sea level. 

According to the newspaper, the car had been on its way from the lake to the mountain when the accident happened, with rescue operations complicated by the remote forest location where the car landed. 

The cable car had reopened on April 24th after the end of the second lockdown, and had undergone extensive renovations and refurbishments in 2016, which involved the cable undergoing magnetic particle inspection (MPI) to search for any defects. 

Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Twitter that he expressed his “condolences to the families of the victims, with special thoughts for the seriously injured children and their families”.

Infrastructure Minister Enrico Giovannini told Italy’s Tg1 a commission of inquiry would be established, according to Corriere della Sera: “Our thoughts go out to those involved. The Ministry has initiated procedures to set up a commission and initiate checks on the controls carried out on the infrastructure.”

“Tomorrow morning I will be in Stresa on Lake Maggiore to meet the prefect and other authorities to decide what to do,” he said.

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