When the sun comes up over the castle of Rocca Calascio, a mountain hamlet high up in the central Italian Apennines, it is like a silent, red thunder. One such sunrise struck Franco Cagnoli with an almost spiritual calling that led him on a personal mission to revive the medieval village that had been abandoned in 1957.
The once-ghostly place is one of many small locations in Italy enjoying a revival, fuelled by cheap prices, smart working opportunities and a desire for a quieter lifestyle. "To put it in romantic terms, there is a love story between me and Rocca Calascio," Cagnoli said as he showed visitors round the castle above the hamlet known as the "Light of Abruzzo", the name of the central Italian region where it is located.
