Build a castle for £10,000,000… which is then auctioned off twenty years later for £250,000 July 2026
Every week, thousands of new executive auctions appear in Italy. The majority concern “ordinary” houses, apartments or commercial properties. But regularly we come across a file where we ask ourselves the question: How is this possible?
Thus, we recently discovered Il Mastio, a castle complex in Pietrelcina, the birthplace of Saint Padre Pio (who doesn't know him).
Less than twenty years ago, it was built for an investment reportedly between eight and ten million euros. Today, the same complex – complete with a moat, drawbridges, restaurant, wine cellar and nine guest rooms – is up for auction starting at around €250,000.
How can a project of this magnitude virtually entirely lose value in such a short timeframe?
To answer that question, we delved not only into auction documents but also into old permits, local newspapers, and the history of the project. What we found turned out to be at least as remarkable as the castle itself.
The castle of one wedding
One evening in September 2007, guests flowed along Via del Rosario, the narrow path along which pilgrims had walked for decades to Padre Pio's ash grove. But that evening, they weren't walking to a chapel. They were walking to a castle. A moat. Two iron drawbridges. Turrets of natural stone. An underground wine cellar. A dining hall with heavy wooden beams salvaged from old buildings. Above that, nine guest rooms, ready to welcome visitors.
The complex was named “Il Mastio”, after the keep – the most heavily defensible tower of a medieval castle. There was a wedding. There was music, champagne, and a photographer who immortalised the bridal couple on the bridge.
As far as we've been able to ascertain, this would be the only major party night the building ever experienced.
From vegetables to hospitality
Five years earlier, everything looked very different. In 2002, Kerres Srl from Colle Sannita applied for a permit to refurbish an existing rural property into a simple space for processing their own homegrown vegetables. Artichokes, tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, courgettes, beans and lettuce. An agricultural business. Nothing more than that.
In those very years, the surroundings changed dramatically. Padre Pio was canonised in 2002. Expectations were enormous. There was talk of millions of pilgrims who would travel to Pietrelcina and San Giovanni Rotondo annually. Plans for hotels, agriturismi and restaurants sprang up all over the region. Municipalities invested in infrastructure, entrepreneurs saw opportunities, and banks were also willing to finance ambitious projects.
Kerres too saw the light: vegetables were no longer the future.
The original permit was amended. What started as a modest agricultural project grew into a castle complex with a restaurant, wine cellar, reception rooms, offices, and nine guest rooms, built in one of the most symbolic locations of Padre Pio's life.
According to local reports, the investment amounted to eight to ten million euros.
Built on expectations
In the mid-2000s, a mood of exuberant optimism prevailed across large parts of Europe and the US. Credit was cheap, property was considered a safe investment, and tourism forecasts were often translated into development plans without too much scepticism.
Public documents show that a mortgage of around seven million euros was eventually placed on the complex. However, the expected stream of visitors never really got going.
After the festive opening in September 2007, silence followed. A few private gatherings of the owner family still took place, but there seems to have been hardly any structural operation as a hotel or event venue. An investment of millions of euros proved dependent on a market that ultimately turned out to be much smaller than anticipated.
Back to the origin
The remarkable course of the project also attracted the attention of local journalists and the civic platform Altra Benevento at the time, who critically reconstructed the licensing, funding, and development of Il Mastio. Kerres has always maintained that the project was entirely financed with the shareholders' own funds, and that no government subsidies were used. How the €7 million loan was secured remained unclear.
Remarkably, the company returned to its original idea shortly afterwards. Agricultural machinery was purchased, regional subsidies for the agricultural sector were applied for, and a simple sign reappeared on the facade:
“Il Mastio - Agricultural Company.”
The castle had once again become a farm.
Is this castle a bargain for €250,000?
At first glance, the answer seems obvious. A castle that, relatively recently, cost between eight and ten million euros and is now being auctioned from around €250,000, must be a bargain, surely? Perhaps. But perhaps not.
You don't buy a hotel based solely on the building. Ultimately, location and tourist flow are the main determinants of a hotel's viability. No matter how impressive the architecture, or how much money has been invested in its construction, without enough guests, even the most beautiful hotel remains a costly investment.
It is precisely there that the region around Pietrelcina seems to face a challenge. Padre Pio still attracts large numbers of visitors, but many pilgrims visit the birthplace and San Giovanni Rotondo as day trips. Furthermore, in the years following the canonisation, several hotels were built, all in the expectation that visitor numbers would continue to grow for years to come. Not all of those accommodations seem to be thriving today.
The price largely reflects the economic reality of the local hotel market. Of course, other factors play a role, such as the relative invisibility of the auction market, but location is and remains one of the most important factors.
So the price is only a golden opportunity for someone with significantly better plans than the average hotel in the area. In that case, you're buying an excellent foundation. The hilltop location is extraordinary, and the possibilities, with the castle as a base, supplemented by various buildings enabling expansion, plus a significant amount of farmland, are certainly there.
This is an important lesson for anyone looking at Italian executive auctions, or considering buying property in Italy. An impressive building, a luxurious finish, or a spectacular discount on the original investment say surprisingly little about the true value.
A hotel is ultimately not a collection of bricks and mortar, but a business. Only when the location generates sufficient demand – or when a hotel is so special in its appeal, quality, service, or experience that guests are willing to travel specifically for it – does a sustainable business model emerge.
That's precisely why, when looking at hotel auctions, we always look beyond the photos and the asking price. Because sometimes, a multi-million euro hotel for €250,000 is indeed a great opportunity. And sometimes, that seemingly low price turns out to be the best indication that the real story still needs to be told.
Ultimately, the market decides
When the court appointed an independent valuer in 2017, the entire complex – including the restaurant, wine cellar, guest rooms, and surrounding grounds – was valued at approximately €2.93 million. Even then, more than two-thirds of the original investment had already disappeared.
The well-known trajectory of Italian executive auctions then began. Round after round of sales remained without a buyer. Each failed auction brought a new price reduction with it. The same complex is now for sale starting from approximately €250,000. That is less than nine percent of the last valuation. And only a fraction of what it once cost to build.
Why this story matters
Il Mastio is ultimately far more than just a special castle. It is one of the thousands of stories hidden behind the Italian property market. Behind almost every building there is a history. Sometimes it's a family business that didn't survive the economic crisis. Sometimes it's a hotel that was built on overly optimistic visitor forecasts. Sometimes it's an agriturismo whose operation never got off the ground. And sometimes, as here, it's a multi-million euro project that was built for a future that never truly materialised. Not even a credible attempt was made.
These kinds of stories make this market so fascinating. Not because every repossessed property is a bargain – far from it. Behind many properties lie legal, technical or commercial challenges that can fully explain a low price. Anyone who only looks at the photos or the asking price often misses the most important part of the story.
Tens of thousands of new property auctions appear in Italy every month. Almost all of them contain a bulky file with valuations, permits, ownership history, and legal documents. That is precisely where our work begins. We scan this enormous stream of auctions, not looking for the most captivating stories, but for the best opportunities for foreign buyers.
Sometimes that leads to a carefully restored agriturismo. Sometimes to a characteristic villa. And very occasionally to a castle like Il Mastio, whose story is at least as impressive as the building itself.