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LIVING IN ITALY

Charming or boring – What do Italians think of life in the old town?

Most towns in Italy have a pretty 'centro storico', or old town centre, full of charm and history. But there are plenty of reasons why Italians don't want to live there, says Silvia Marchetti.

Charming or boring - What do Italians think of life in the old town?
A cheap home in the charming surroundings of an Italian centro storico would tempt many foreigners - but few Italians. (Photo by TIZIANA FABI / AFP)

Italy’s rural villages lure foreigners with their fascinating historic centres and bucolic vibe, but they’re not always as idyllic as they may seem at first glance.

Living in such villages, many of which are depopulated and in isolated places, built around a more or less intact ancient district, has pros and cons. They come with caveats.

The plus points are of course the old architecture and picturesque buildings full of history, surroundings with great countryside or mountain views, fewer crowds, authentic food and traditions, and welcoming neighbours. There is that ‘microcosm’ ambiance that makes you feel at home in a small place.

But one must go beyond the romantic, aesthetic appeal of old districts and look at how practical it is to actually live there.

Last weekend I visited a small village in the province of Rieti called Percile and nearly broke my leg climbing up and down the layers of huge stone steps, which were the actual alleys, wondering how residents could do it every single time they left their homes. It’s like a killer open-air gym.

READ ALSO: How to spot Italy’s ‘fake authentic’ tourist villages

While some foreigners might view such daily feats as part of their sogno all’italiana (‘Italian dream’), Italians are not as keen on reliving the bygone days.

Historic centres are all structured in the same way: a bunch of houses cropped at the feet of a castle, church or fortress, with narrow, winding cobbled alleys where ankles get easily sprained, and ragged stone steps connecting the various levels. 

The semi-deserted old town centre of Rignano Flaminio. Photo: Silvia Marchetti

Cars are banned, finding a parking place nearby is hell, especially in summer, and the pavements get slippery when it rains. And in small villages where most locals have long left, or return just for weekends, shops, bars, restaurants and pharmacies tend to be located in newer areas or in nearby towns.

In the past locals fled from these places due to harsh living conditions, searching for a brighter future elsewhere. They left behind empty houses, so today many historic centres are partly abandoned and inhabited by adventurous foreigners looking for a quiet retreat. 

Italians tend not to buy houses in old neighbourhoods unless they have nostalgia for their roots and want to reconnect with their ancestors, or eye an investment like a B&B. They’d rather buy country houses with a garden, plot of land, and if affordable, a small pool.

READ ALSO: Why Italians aren’t snatching up their country’s one-euro homes

My Italian friends have never even considered buying an old dwelling in the historic centre of a rural village; they find it uncomfortable. And so do I, unless I’m sure to have everything I need at hand and at a short walking distance.

“I’m Sicilian, but I’d never purchase a cheap or one-euro home in Sicily’s ancient neighbourhoods, no matter how fascinating these are. I would not know where to park the car and just the thought of carrying heavy grocery bags and bottled water up staircases scares me, old homes don’t come with elevators”, says Rosi Gangiulo, a pensioner from Palermo.

Crumbling houses in Percile. Photo: Silvia Marchetti

There are also a few prejudices involved too. Unless it’s a unique, stunning town like Civita di Bagnoreggio in Lazio suspended above a deep chasm, or Renaissance-era jewel Pienza in Tuscany, living in the old part is seen as (and often is) the place for poorer families, while owning an attic in the newer area where all the pubs and shops are is ‘cool’.

In the medieval historic centre of Rignano Flaminio north of Rome, few locals remain, hens run freely amid grass-covered ruins, and entire families of immigrants live cramped in tiny one-room apartments. 

Former Italian residents have moved to the countryside or to the modern outskirts, certainly less charming but easier to live in.

Some seemingly picture-perfect historical centres are best admired at a distance, rather than experienced from the inside. Last time I visited Torrita Tiberina in the Tiber Valley it struck me how most homes in the medieval district were shut, abandoned or decaying, with nobody around. 

I happened to bump into a young Neapolitan man who asked me whether I knew what time the bus to Rome was. He told me he had been living there for four months, focusing on writing a book.

“The silence is great but it’s just too quiet. I don’t have a car and each time I had to buy something I needed to get out of the historic centre. It also became unbearable having no next-door neighbour to chat with.

To be sure old villages are the right fit, one has to look beyond the charm and really evaluate whether they’re liveable as well as beautiful.

Member comments

  1. I find myself having to disagree with Ms. Marchetti more and more. It seems all her writings and evaluations/recommendations are based on a view from and of southern Italy. Apparently she is not fond generally of middle Italy and northward. This post on living in centro storico is an example. Other than a slight reference to Pienza, everything not “recommended” is based on the south. I assure all readers that in Umbria and Tuscany, just to name 2 regions, there is an abundance of centro that are charming, livable and inhabited by many life time locals and more. Though swamped with tourists, go to Cortona, Montipulciano, Gubbio, Arezzo to name a few. You will see. I myself live in Anghiari and it could not be more lively. Yes, all these places have surrounding habitats (suburbs!) but the centro are alive and well.
    Please include more observations that are not southern centric…and which give uninitiated readers a very wrong impression. Thanks

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OPINION AND ANALYSIS

OPINION: Foreign foods will always be hard to find in Italy – and that’s OK

Italian food is a major part of the draw for Italy's foreign residents, though some find there's a lack of other choices. But Italy is never going to be the kind of globalised country where international dining options are the norm, argues Silvia Marchetti.

OPINION: Foreign foods will always be hard to find in Italy - and that's OK

Globalisation means that even Italians can buy American-style products in its supermarkets such as peanut butter (I’m a fan), tacos, Doritos, and Oreo cookies. However foreigners in Italy often complain that they have a hard time finding American, British and other non-native foods – particularly outside of big cities.

There may be a handful of villages where immigration to the UK occurred which new have bistros and bakeries serving British dishes and foods. But otherwise, non-Italian restaurants such as Mexican, Lebanese and Vietnamese are nowhere to be found in rural, less populated areas.

Milan is one thing but a tiny village in rural Basilicata is entirely different.

Foreigners come to Italy for the great food, but in the long run, particularly for foreign residents always eating the same indigenous cuisine, no matter how divine it is, it can sometimes get boring. Tastebuds get numb after just so many years of eating pizza, amatriciana pasta and lasagne or tortellini.

I never thought any foreigner could get bored of eating Italian cuisine, but I’ve met several people who have and complain about the non-variety of restaurants.

Outside big cities it is hard to find non-Italian food, especially American and Indian for instance. I know several Brits and Americans living in small rural villages in the south who have had enough of the zero availability of other cuisines and are fed up of always eating Italiano.

Ben and Anne Greene, a retired couple from Brighton, relocated to Calabria four years ago where they bought a rural house for less than €40,000 near the village of Cinquefrondi. Given the low prices and cost of living, for the first year they regularly went out for dinner.

“We’ve had more than our fair share of spaghetti with chili peppers and ‘nduja’ (spicy salami) sauce, let alone pizza and all sorts of short pasta”, Anne tells the The Local.

“We love Italian cuisine, and we never thought we would get bored of it, but lately we often really crave what we had back in the UK – that is a wide selection of foreign foods and cuisines.

“We miss having the freedom of opting for Mexican, Indonesian and Indian, around here you can’t even find a real Chinese restaurant unless you drive to the coast.”

In slightly bigger villages near Cinquefrondi there is sometimes a mixed offer of pizza and kebab in bars run by immigrants, but that’s about it, adds her husband.

In Sambuca di Sicilia, for instance, where the one-euro homes frenzy has lured many expats, alongside traditional taverns there’s just one pizzeria that also makes kebab-style food.

While in Mussomeli, another village in Sicily where cheap homes have attracted foreigners, a local restaurant has started to offer pizza and kebab, and also cheesecake. But that’s usually about as ‘varied’ as it gets in small-town Italy when it comes to food.

In rural Calabria however, one American couple recently opened an American restaurant to cater to local clientele and let them discover original American foods such as Cape Cod-style lobster rolls, onion rings and chicken wings.

Shannon Sciarretta and her partner Felipe da Silva launched ‘The Fig’ in the unknown village of Santa Domenica Talao.

Shannon has Italian origins and grew up eating Italian iconic dishes, but when she then spent her university years in Rome, she realised how very little availability there was of other cuisines, even in the Eternal City.

“It just struck me how there’s very little variety available in Italy when it comes to foreign foods or cuisines,” she says.

“So the idea of serving in Italy non-traditional stuff was always on my mind, and when we decided to move to Calabria, we thought it would be great to have locals taste our favourite American dishes because I think cuisine is a means of communication between different cultures”, says Shannon.

In fact, nearly all The Fig’s clientele is native, as villagers have been won over by its US-style cuisine.

I understand how foreigners can get bored eating always the same Italian food, but on the other hand, I am glad that Italy in its entirety is not yet such a globalized, cosmopolitan country where you can find Indonesian or Mexican food anywhere.

We like to stay attached to our local culinary traditions, which I hope will not die out easily.

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