Sicilian Mayor Offers Historic Houses for €1 Each

How would you like a house in Italy for one euro? The house, it should be pointed out, will be not just dilapidated but near collapse, and probably need at least €100,000 (£80,000) of structural repairs.

This "offer you cannot refuse" comes from Salemi, a town south of Palermo in Sicily. Its new and eccentric mayor, the art critic-turned-politician Vittorio Sgarbi, believes that selling off property at knockdown prices could be the way to save Salemi's exquisite old quarter.

Since an earthquake in 1968 Salemi's ancient center, parts of which date back more than 1,000 years to the Muslim occupation, has become depopulated.

"There are 3,700 houses owned by the council, almost all in the old town, that are in danger of falling down - of crumbling and dying," Sgarbi had said. He initially offered the houses, free of charge, to anyone from Salemi agreeing to do the renovations. But today, courting celebrities, Sgarbi hands the first to football boss José Mourinho's new employer, Massimo Moratti, chairman of Inter Milan.

"We're thinking of people who have the sensibility and economic resources to embark on this adventure," Sgarbi was yesterday quoted as telling Corriere della Sera. "In exchange for a token payment of one euro we will offer them one of these houses and ask that they undertake to restore them within two years while respecting their original characteristics."

Sgarbi said the idea was the brainchild of his friend Oliviero Toscani, the photographer behind the Benetton clothing adverts, who is creativity adviser to Salemi council. Sgarbi has also put a prince in charge of heritage and town planning while a performance artist is "adviser on nothing". At first an anarchist, Sgarbi became an admirer of Silvio Berlusconi and had a post in the government of 2001. He was removed a year later. He founded his own "Beauty party" before linking up with the center-left and then the right.