One of Italy’s smallest regions, the quiet rural backwater of Molise says it is beginning to lure refugees from the high-pressure lifestyles of the industrialized cities of northern Europe.
Often glossed over in a few pages in guidebooks, Molise ― which lies in the southeastern part of central Italy ― boasts that it offers an uncontaminated environment with snow-capped mountains in the winter and sandy Adriatic beaches for the summer. In between shore and mountains, Molise features an unspoilt landscape that provides a habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, including wolves, deer and wild boar.
Molise also has medieval hill-top towns, agricultural products that range from olive oil to wine and prized truffles, a strong local culinary tradition and hospitable people, according to the area’s tourism authority. The authority says Molise is a corner of Italy where time seems to stand still.
The region of Molise in the coutheastern part of central Italy between the Adriatic Sea and the Apennines is rural in nature and features areas of unspoiled, lightly populated land in which species such as wolves, wild boars and deer live. The area's tourism authority says Molise provides a relaxing, tranquil haven for the stressed-out traveler. Molise's tourism accommodations include numbers of 'albergos diffusos', rooms in buildings of architectural or artistic interest
A small colony of Dutch immigrants responded to the lure of Molise’s peaceful ways some 10 years ago, moving there before the concept of “downshifting” became fashionable. Downshifting is a social trend whereby individuals decide to abandon a materialistic lifestyle for a less stressful life elsewhere. The concept was popularised by the British writer and broadcaster Tracey Smith, who founded International Downshifting Week in 2005.
Sietske and Hans Poorte put the theory into practice in 2001, when they moved to a farmhouse at Monteciccardo to open their own bed-and-breakfast lodging. Apart from a few tussles with the local bureaucracy, the gamble has proved worthwhile, the couple say. “If you want harmony and quiet, this is the right place,” the Dutch couple told the magazine Io Donna.
Others have followed their example, sometimes accepting to work harder for less money, but able to live life at a more natural, less stressful pace. That is also the idea behind the “albergo diffuso”, the concept of “diffuse hotels” that make use of rooms in existing buildings of artistic or architectural interest to provide high-quality accommodation for travelers.
Local administrators are hoping the formula can work well in Molise’s lesser-known towns and villages, preserving ancient houses from ruin, bringing life into depopulated areas and providing an extra source of income for locals otherwise mainly engaged in agriculture. The diffuse hotels can offer an intimate contact with the reality of a location and could entice some visitors to stay permanently.
For more information on the Molise region of Italy, visit www.regione.molise.it.
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