Cash-strapped European country auctions off incredible £205m emperor's castle
In an attempt to raise millions to help pay off its growing debt, Italy has auctioned off a grand 16th-century castle, one of its historic national sites.
A row has broken out in Italy over the sale of an historic castle to balance the government's books. Capua Castle, near Naples, is on the list of the 33 sites owned or managed by the Ministry of Defence.
The grand building, steeped in heritage, was built between 1522 and 1543 for Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500-58). But soon it will have an entirely new owner, as government bodies aim to sell it in the coming months as Italy attempts to raise millions of euros to help pay off its growing debt.
The move has sparked an outcry from the Fondo Ambiente italiano (FAI) - the Italian equivalent to the national trust - who have pleaded that the vast 16th-century castle be given UNESCO World Heritage protection.
“We should protect our cultural assets, they are vital,” Dante Specchia, an architect who heads the FAI’s Caserta branch, told The Telegraph. She added that “depriving the public of a jewel” like the castle should not be up for debate.
In May, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged Italy to address its growing public debt, projected to reach 145 percent of GDP. The Fund called for urgent fiscal adjustments and structural reforms to ensure economic stability and long-term debt sustainability, according to euronews.
Capua Castle was once strategically significant for Charles V, whose empire had extended from Germany to northern Italy as well as ruling over the Austrian hereditary lands, Burgundian Low Countries (modern day Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) and Spain with its possessions of the southern Italian kingdoms of Naples, Sicily and Sardinia.
It is 25 miles north of Naples and was deemed vital in the defence of two city gates and the Appian Way, one of the earliest and strategically important Roman roads of the ancient republic, connecting Rome to Brindisi in southeast Italy.
However, Capua was stripped of its furnishings, becoming a prison in the 19th-century and most recently used for the manufacture and storage of military explosives.
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The castle is not the only property on the list up for sale, with palaces and villas in Florence, Padua and Taranto, as well as various army barracks, warehouses and three lighthouses to be sold in a separate sale.
The properties, which are currently used by the army, air force and navy, are said to have a market value of 240 million euros, or £205 million. However, they could sell for much more at auction.
The properties would be sold under concession for 50 years, the defence ministry said, with the aim of looking for “proposals aimed at the redevelopment, enhancement and economic management of its real estate assets”.
Capua castle specifically has been designated for potential tourism and hospitality development, however it will require major work with the stone walls so cracked that weeds now grow through them.
According to The Telegraph, Specchia and Giorgia Meloni’s administration missed the chance to use the EU’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan to save Italy’s cultural sites, including Capua.
