Why buy property in Molise

The Italian state tourist board is aware of the charms of Molise, even if they are a mystery to the rest of us (and to most Italians). ‘Pay a visit, before it becomes fashionable,’ they say, and we’re with them. In fact, we’d say look at property for sale in Molise before it becomes expensive. The fact is that if you’re looking to purchase a farmhouse, villa, apartment or any other real estate in Italy, you’ll get more square metres for your euro than almost anywhere else.

Molise will be ideal for some looking for property for sale in Italy, though it’s not for everybody. Molise is small and it’s rural. Until 1963 it wasn’t even a region in its own right, being twinned with northern neighbour Abruzzo (itself an underpopulated and underexploited region) under the soubriquet ‘Abruzzi’.

People sometimes seem hard to find in Molise. The 4,438 sq kms of land are home to just 316,000 souls, giving it one of the lowest population densities in Italy, just 71 people per square kilometre (Tuscany has twice this). It has fewer foreign visitors than any other region (just 17,000 a year), and barely any Italian visitors.

Molise — rural and unspoilt

Those looking at property in Molise will find it rural, unspoiled and empty even by the standards of its former partner Abruzzo, Molise runs on agriculture, often conducted at subsistence level. Summers are hot (though not oppressively so) and winter temperatures can touch freezing. Fields of wheat and potatoes give way to the vineyards and olive groves of the coastal region.

Molise is rich in history. The oldest human remains in Italy were found in Isernia in the west of the region. Here home erectus aeserniensis was unearthed in 1979: today the town has a very good archaeological museum. The pre-Roman inhabitants were the Samnites who fell (like everyone else) to the Romans in the fifth century BC. Molise was invaded by Goths, Saracens, Byzantines, Langobards and Normans during the Dark Ages, and becoming part of the Kingdom of Naples in 1221. Immigration during the centuries has come from Albanians, gypsies and Slavs, but this poor region has seen more people leave than arrive, and there are significant populations of Molise expatriates in the US.

Development properties in Molise

Large parts of Molise are covered by nature reserves, and owls, wolves, polecats and other animals breed undisturbed here. This then is frontier country - for those looking to buy cheap real estate in unspoiled Italy, Molise offers fantastic opportunities. Add to this the steady depopulation of the region over the last century (and especially since World War II) and you’re likely to find plenty of development properties. Abandoned farmhouses and even villages are the order of the day. Also, for anyone looking to buy real estate in Molise, local and immigrant labour is very cheap — development projects are an affordable possibility.

The capital of Molise is Campobasso. Perhaps not the loveliest town in Italy, its claims to fame include housing a top-security prison and the national training school for carabinieri (police officers). Anyone buying real estate in or near Campobasso does have access to the marvellous ruins at Saepinum and the town’s amazing Corpus Christi procession. The Sagra dei Misteri, with locals garbed as devils, angels and saints, is just one of the many examples of how Molise seems sometimes frozen a century or more back.

Where to buy property in Molise

And yet this little region (Molise covers only around 500 square miles, much of it mountain and forested hillsides) isn’t so inaccessible. Look at property for sale in Molise and you find you are fringed on the Adriatic (east) coast by the north-south A14 coastal highway, which takes you to Apulia and the heel of Italy and up to Bologna and into central Europe. To the west runs the north-south A1 highway, and thence north to Rome. Budget flights (courtesy of Ryanair) fly into Pescara in Abruzzo, some 60km drive north of the Molise border. And anyone looking at property for sale in Molise would be well-advised to invest in a set of wheels. Train and bus timetables can be erratic and houses can be remote.

Molise airports and communications

But there are some marvellous properties for sale in Molise. You could buy an Italian farmhouse, a villa, a castle or monastery, even an entire abandoned village in Molise, and you’re looking at per square metre prices starting around €500 (and rather less for isolated and abandoned properties). Underpopulated and with few visitors, there is little demand forcing prices of property in Molise upward … this region of Italy should provided value property for some time to come.

Castles abound, many in remarkably good states of repair: it’s well worth taking an expedition into the Matese mountain range, which runs along the southern edge of Molise, bordering Campania. As well as the developing ski resorts of Campitello Matese, you have good hiking country supporting wolves, eagles, falcons and hawks.

Molise … medieval towns and villages

Heading down and east toward the coast things get (slightly) less remote. Larino is a pleasant medieval town at the heart of the Albanian villages settled here by refugees in the 14th century. With a fine duomo, Palazzo Ducale and museum, this is a lively, bustling little centre (and it has a rail station). But in many ways, Larino could be straight out of the 19th century. You’ll see women preparing vegetables and making lace outside their front doors, and the pace of life here is relaxingly slow. The villages around, such as Ururi, preserve the Albanian dialect brought half a millennium ago — it’s unintelligible to most Italians, let alone incomers.

Beach lovers should look at real estate for sale in Molise. The 40km of coastline have fine sandy beaches yet only one real town (Termoli, with the A14 highway just outside). Apart from a brief peak season, this coastline is peaceful (few people visit) and gloriously wild and unspoilt. The old sheep-droving paths (traturri), beaten deep and 100m wide by many centuries of use are now being pressed into service as mountain biking and hiking routes. If you are interested in property for sale in the towns of Molise, search for Isernia and Campobasso.

Molise food and drink

Anyone buying real estate in Molise is likely to encounter something new on the menu. Molise is a rural, arguable rather backward region and you’ll neither find the fancy fare of Lombardy, nor the pan-Italian fare of big city restaurants. You will find excellent and unspoiled local dishes though. Calcioni is fried ravioli filled with ricotta, minced ham and provolone cheese; macche are baked slices of polenta sandwiching bacon or sausage; fruffela is a rich vegetable broth with bacon, garlic and chillis; musische is a sun-dried, smoked mutton, sliced thin and served with chilli and olive oil. There are robust red wines too, such as Montepulciano di Molise and Aglianico.