Colletta di Castelbianco

Colletta di Castelbianco is the most unusual and interesting feature of the commune — a medieval village perched on a hilltop above the valley that was completely abandoned by the 1950s as the population left for the cities. In the 1990s it was restored as what its creators called a "tele-village": every house rewired for satellite broadband, designed to attract professionals who could work remotely from a restored medieval setting in the Ligurian hills.

The restoration is architecturally careful — stone walls, terracotta roofs, the original street pattern preserved — and the village now has a small hotel, some holiday apartments, and a genuine if unusual atmosphere. It works best as an overnight stop rather than a day visit. The views over the Pennavaire valley from the village walls are excellent.

things to do sight architecture
A story
In the early 1990s, the village of Colletta — completely abandoned since the 1950s — was purchased by a group of investors and restored. The unusual feature was that every house was wired for fibre-optic internet, making it one of the world's first "tele-villages." The idea was to attract remote workers and artists. Colletta became a minor footnote in the history of the internet and a major footnote in the history of Italian rural restoration.