Welcome to Zungoli, a village of a thousand souls in the heart of Irpinia. We are in the province of Avellino, in a small village crossed by timeless streets that wind together on the ridge of a hill. Here history and culture are hosts. But, as the mayor Paolo Caruso says, one of the problems is that of making the village safe: a problem that we are trying to remedy also thanks to the “Houses for 1 euro” project. Let’s see how it works.
Mayor, if I wanted to buy a house in your town by spending one euro, what should I do?
Easy. In a few days we will publish the fourth notice, you will find it on the Municipality’s website, where it will also be possible to find out about the guidelines and necessary forms. That’s all. He will have to make commitments on the timing of the construction and say what works he intends to carry out to renovate the property.
How many houses do you have available? Is a small community of foreign people already emerging who have come to repopulate the village?
The community of foreigners does not exist. Not yet, at least: the pandemic has slowed everything down. But there is a lot of curiosity: do you think we have at least 5000 active expressions of interest. Consider that this town has less than a thousand inhabitants and a total of 500 homes. We have acquired around a hundred and 15 will already be available with the next tender.
When did you start with this project? And why?
We started in 2018. I will tell you that this choice allows us to better address the problem of securing the village, in relation to seismic problems. But in this way we are also able to create the conditions for economic development, because those who choose to buy a house for 1 euro fuel productive prospects.
How does the tender work?
In the announcement there is a double opportunity: the one that allows private individuals interested in this project to donate the building to the Municipality or to speak directly with those requesting the 1 euro houses by referring to the conditions that this project has set, i.e. the cost per 1 euro.
But clearly between private individuals they can also make a different assessment.
In any case, the Municipality takes charge of the building and makes it available through tenders: we have already done three and as I told you at the beginning we will be doing the fourth in these days. Look, this is the only way for a village to be renovated. Otherwise all that remains are ruins. And it would be a shame because here there are eight consular roads and a tradition such as transhumance which is part of a culture declared a UNESCO heritage site.
Russians, Argentinians, Americans: I spoke with people from all over the world who came to Italy, mostly to Sicily, to make this type of investment. From you?
We seek people who can enjoy not only our beautiful landscapes, but who seek personal enrichment in our extraordinary culture. Also culinary. In fact, I can add that here in Zungoli we have collected data and have rediscovered the beauty of around 250 typical dishes.
