LIVING ITALIA!

Homes in

Lazio

Rural, affordable and full of clean lakes and pretty hills, there is so much more to Lazio than Italy’s capital city. Fleur Kinson gives you the lowdown on this incredibly diverse and increasingly popular area set between the north and the south of the country.

Hills area to Rome’s north east is popular with retirees and second-home owners, yet remains surprisingly affordable, as does the intensely beautiful area round Lake Bolsena far in the region’s north, on the edge of Umbria and Tuscany. Elsewhere foreign buyers have very little presence and property prices can be very low indeed. Chances are that whatever your budget, you will be able to fi nd something to suit you in Lazio. There are farmhouses here for less than €100,000 and old country villas up for more than €1 million. Village apartments can go for €50,000, and small fl ats in central Rome for more than €400,000. As a whole, Lazio has seen property prices rise by about 50 per cent over the last decade. As the region shares borders with costly Tuscany and Umbria, it is very likely that foreign interest in Lazio will continue to increase in the coming years, together with the prices of local homes.

All roads lead to Rome, they say. It’s something of a paradox then that so few seem to lead into the region surrounding the Eternal City. Here quiet countryside and tiny ancient towns see very few passersthrough. Rome may have been the centre of the world for a long time, but Lazio – radiating for miles in every direction from its one big city – has never really been the centre of anything. Well, except arguably of the Etruscan civilisation, who may have had their greatest cities in Lazio’s north and certainly left lots of tantalising traces here. For property buyers, Lazio’s relative lack of development means plenty of space and friendly faces in safe, tightknit little communities – all within easy travelling distance of a world-class capital city. If you want to be based in pretty countryside or a peaceful village, while retaining the option of occasionally cruising into a teeming capital stuffed with glossy boutiques and historical wonders, Lazio could well be the region for you. Price-wise, Lazio has a very mixed market. Rome is one of the most expensive spots in Italy – but it offers superb rental prospects and sees no shortage of foreign property seekers. Town-sized second city Viterbo, to Rome’s north, is strangely expensive for what it offers, and yet attracts a fair few overseas buyers. The lovely Sabine

Piazza della Minerva elephant and obelisk in Rome.

All photographs © ENIT

HEART OF ITALY Lazio sits halfway down the Italian peninsula, bordered to the north by Tuscany and Umbria, to the east by wild, mountainous Abruzzo, and to the south by Molise and Campania. The Mediterranean licks its long western edge. More than any other Italian region, Lazio can be said to mark the turning point between the rich, cultured north and the hot, slow-paced south. Culturally it

➤ © Alam y/Francisco Martinez

32 ITALIA! March 2007
Village of Civita di Bagnoregio, Viterbo.

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