Italy has always been a country rich in real estate, in particular, luxury property.

History

During the centuries, Italy, for mild climate and for the great variety of climatic environments, offered the perfect place for the construction of luxury real estate and of great artistic and cultural value.

Roman Empire

The first historical examples of luxury houses or luxury villas, are from the period of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

.
In particular, the villas of Roman Emperors, represented the quintessential luxury.
Today some are protected as Heritage archaeological of inestimable value and as

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

, as, for example,

Hadrian's Villa Hadrian's Villa ( it, Villa Adriana) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising the ruins and archaeological remains of a large villa complex built c. AD 120 by Roman Emperor Hadrian at Tivoli outside Rome. The site is owned by the Republic of ...

. At Capri, the Roman Emperor Tiberius had built 12 villas. The archaeological remains are scattered throughout the island, but they are, however, only 3 villas that have preserved the original structure still visible:

Villa Jovis Villa Jovis ("Villa of Jupiter") is a Roman palace on Capri, southern Italy, built by emperor Tiberius and completed in AD 27. Tiberius ruled mainly from there until his death in AD 37. Villa Jovis is the largest of the twelve Tiberian villas ...

, Villa Damecuta and Palazzo a Mare.

Luxury Real Estate

The word itself luxury derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''luxus'', and associated with real estate, indicates today in Italy, a category of properties of particular value and of high historical and artistic value.

Middle Ages

Castel del Monte BW 2016-10-14 12-26-11 r

The dissolution of the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...

brings in Italy the creation of many barbarian kingdoms, as, for example,

Kingdom of the Lombards The Kingdom of the Lombards ( la, Regnum Langobardorum; it, Regno dei Longobardi; lmo, Regn di Lombard) also known as the Lombard Kingdom; later the Kingdom of (all) Italy ( la, Regnum totius Italiae), was an early medieval state established ...

, that evolved over the centuries in feudal lordships. During this period were built the medieval villages with fortified walls and towers. Because of widespread fragmentation in kingdoms and feudal lords, often at war with each other, were built

castles A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified ...

and fortresses, often embedded in medieval villages. Today some are protected as Heritage of inestimable value and as

, as, for example, The "Historic Centre of San Gimignano", in

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

Renaissance

Early modern

Modern

References

External links

ASSOIMMOBILIARE, Italian Real Estate Industry Association
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