The man who acquired an entire Italian village

In recent years, Italy has sold hundreds of abandoned homes at very low prices, sparking a wave of rural regeneration as part of initiatives to attract new residents.

For one individual, owning just one house wasn’t enough—he decided to purchase an entire village instead.

Scottish entrepreneur Cesidio Di Ciacca has completed the restoration of Borgo I Ciacca, a historic hamlet dating back to the 1500s, originally named after his family.

Nestled in the rugged Ciociaria region, located between Rome and Naples, it lies at the base of the town of Picinisco.

“At the dawn of the 20th century, my grandparents Cesidio and Marietta left the village in search of a brighter future,” Di Ciacca shares with Dinogo. “They moved to Scotland, abandoning their homeland, which remained forgotten for fifty years.”

“It was a desolate place. I began restoring it over a decade ago. It was an enormous undertaking, but now it’s finally thriving again,” Di Ciacca recalls.

Driven by a deep longing for his ancestors’ land, and having established a successful career as a lawyer and consultant, Di Ciacca decided to return and revive the village his family had left behind, aiming to boost its local economy.

Once a collection of crumbling stone farmhouses, barns, and windowless storage sheds with cracked doors and unsafe staircases, the village now boasts beautifully renovated pastel-hued buildings, with a circular panoramic path offering views of lush green hills.

It now features a wine cellar, a conference room, a library, and two guest suites for those seeking a peaceful, unplugged countryside retreat. The estate’s vineyards cultivate Maturano grapes, a rare variety that had nearly vanished but has now been revived.

Although Di Ciacca was born in the coastal village of Cockenzie, near Edinburgh, he has always maintained a deep connection to his ancestral homeland.

“My family has always stayed rooted in its heritage,” he says. “Every summer as a child, my parents would bring me here to visit relatives. As I grew older, my visits became more regular, until I made it my mission to fully reconnect with my roots and resurrect our family’s borgo.”

140 previous owners

The first challenge was to locate all 140 owners of the 30-hectare village estate—a painstaking task made more difficult by the fact that emigration had scattered them across the globe.

“The village was fragmented, with many heirs owning only a small part of it—sometimes just a corner of a house, a patch of pasture, a piece of woodland, or even just an olive tree,” Di Ciacca explains.

Under Italian law from the Napoleonic era, property inheritance is not passed down to the eldest child, but to each child equally. Over generations, this system has led to the fragmentation of ownership across many different families.

The village’s final resident, according to Di Ciacca, was a distant great aunt who passed away in 1969. Over the following five decades, the already crumbling hamlet deteriorated further, as overgrown vegetation overtook walls and doors.

Traces of its past life were still visible throughout, including wine flasks and nails hammered into ceilings to hang sausages. During the renovation excavation, old spoons, coins, and religious charms were also discovered.

Di Ciacca explains that he had to purchase the entire village before any restoration could begin due to the complex puzzle of ownership.

“I only had control over my family’s portion,” he explains. “It took me years to buy back all the shares, offering each small owner a price based on the market value of their land, even if the actual land was worth less, so that everyone received the same offer.”

While the local land and church registry helped pinpoint the numerous owners, Di Ciacca credits his genealogical research for success, saying that the communities in the area still maintain strong ties with neighboring families.

“One cousin knew another distant relative, and so on, like a chain of connections. Mostly through word of mouth and memory,” he explains. “The migrant community in Edinburgh, where many had settled, also played a key role in helping with the search.”

Di Ciacca had to persuade several relatives to part with their shares of the village. Although they had no interest in the properties, they were hesitant to sell due to emotional attachments.

While Di Ciacca keeps the exact figures private, he admits that restoring the village required a significant financial investment, with the majority of the money going toward the rebuilding process.

“Oh, I don’t even want to think about it,” he laughs. “It was definitely too much. It was a crazy project. The individual units weren’t expensive, but the renovation was where the costs really piled up.”

A new beginning

Before it fell into decline, Borgo Di Ciacca was a lively community, home to 60 people who lived in modest 50-square-meter dwellings—about six families in total.

As part of the renovation, the old homes have had their towering ovens and fireplaces restored. These are now used for pizza parties and summer gatherings. Each room is adorned with antique furniture.

Borgo Di Ciacca also honors local food traditions. At seminars, events, and gatherings, guests enjoy gourmet dishes like pecorino sheep cheese, lard from the estate’s free-range black pigs, ricotta goat cheese, and platters of cured ham.

“It started as a passion project, but soon I realized it needed to evolve into a sustainable business,” Di Ciacca says. “When my daughter Sofia decided to leave her corporate career to manage the vineyards, I transformed the borgo into a rural farm producing honey, jams, wine, and extra virgin olive oil, while also launching eco-friendly initiatives.”

The 2,500-square-meter village now features a small cultural center and a conference room for academic meetings focused on food and agricultural studies. There’s also a wine-tasting room, a canteen, and a kitchen for cooking classes. The entire borgo is equipped with underfloor heating and high-speed Wi-Fi.

Since its first harvest in 2017, the village’s wine has earned three international silver awards and is now being exported abroad.

In the spring, bucolic marathons take place, with participants running through the vineyards before relaxing at the small piazza where villagers once gathered to socialize after a long day of working in the fields.

A “social orchard” has been established, growing fresh produce and engaging groups of children in lessons about rural life. Additionally, a new gastronomy school will open this year.

“I didn’t alter the interiors; I preserved the original decor and rustic charm, with rough stone walls and old, heavy wooden doors with metal bolts,” Di Ciacca explains. “The different colors of the buildings are exactly as they were originally painted, each hue representing a distinct time period.”

However, finding 140 relatives was a breeze compared to navigating Italy’s bureaucratic system, Di Ciacca admits, noting that the paperwork was a major headache. He’s hired local young people to manage the business while he’s in Scotland.

When the pandemic hit, Di Ciacca found himself stranded in the village, and he says its clean air and secluded location were a blessing. Now, along with his wife, son, daughter, and grandchildren, he spends most of the year in his ancestral home.

A mystical atmosphere

The area surrounding the village is home to abbeys, monasteries, and pilgrimage sites, many of which are known for the apparitions of the Virgin Mary.

“This has been a place of passage for thousands of years, known for its pure water, fresh air, and fertile land,” Di Ciacca says. “Prehistoric humans settled here, and saints like St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Benedict passed through this valley of faith. It’s a truly magical place.”

During the Middle Ages, Ciociaria was a crossroads for shepherds, hermits, and saints. In the 1800s, it became the hideout of Italy’s most notorious outlaw, Domenico Fuoco. Over time, emigration and natural disasters reduced the population, and today, it remains one of Italy’s hidden gems.

The village is also the birthplace of Di Ciacca’s father, Johnny, before his parents moved to Scotland, where they established an ice cream business.

For more than 500 years, the village was part of their family legacy, and as the sole living heir with a genuine interest in restoring it, Di Ciacca is determined to secure its future.

“I envision this village as a central hub for Italian-Scottish individuals abroad, offering them a place to reconnect with their roots, and possibly even support the local area by creating new opportunities for growth,” he says.

Plans are also in place to establish an agri-food academy within the village. However, the pandemic has delayed progress, though there are intentions to form partnerships with European universities to explore how to preserve and advance rural traditions.

For someone who has successfully convinced 140 people to sell off their tiny portions of land to make way for a larger project, this should be just another challenge to tackle.