Italy Is Giving Away Castles — With A Catch

We've all heard of Rome, Florence, and Venice — but has anyone heard of Liguria? Well Italy is on a mission to change that. They are giving away historic buildings, including castles, farmhouses, villas, and monasteries, to anyone willing to create a tourist destination out of one of the old structures — be it a restaurant, spa, hotel, or any other idea you may have for the property. That's right, giving away. As in for free.

So what's the catch? You need to be an entrepreneur under 40 (ideally) and have a well-developed plan for what you'll do with the property. 

This is all an effort by the Italian government to bring more tourists to other parts of the country, and what a clever way of making that happen. The country hopes that by attracting more tourists to other towns and cities, it will alleviate the overcrowding issues of places like Rome and Venice.

There are a total of 103 currently unused public and private properties that are up for grabs, but keep in mind that renovating and repairing them will likely cost you. So, if you've been on the hunt for a great deal on castles, get to work on that proposal and you might be in luck.