This Gorgeous Sicilian Village Will Give You a €1 Home — and Up to €25,000 for Renovations

What's better than finding a €1 home in a medieval Italian village? Getting paid €25,000 to turn that diamond in the rough into a dream villa.

Troina, a historic Italian town that was once the capital of Sicily, is offering buyers of its bargain homes up to €25,000 in support for renovation costs.

Troina is among several Italian towns that have been trying to lure new residents with real estate bargains in an effort to revitalize themselves. The town — officially one of Italy's most beautiful — plans to auction off 30 houses online in the coming months and expects to sell 100 additional homes in the future.

Buyers of Troina's bargain homes will need to provide a €5,000 deposit and begin renovations within two years. They'll be exempt for city service and property taxes for three years, but they'll need to prepare to take on a significant renovation project as most of Italy's €1 homes are in need of significant repairs and upgrades.

For those wary of rolling up their sleeves, several "habitable" properties are available, though buyers will have to fork over more than €1.

Officials in Troina are willing to kick in up to €8,000 for those purchases. "It often happens that when visitors pop up asking for a one euro deal they settle at the end for renovated houses that start at 10,000 euros," Mayor Sebastiano Fabio Venezia told CNN.

Troina sits at the edge of Sicily's largest national park, Nebrodi Park, and is near lakes, forests, orange and olive groves, and Mt. Etna, an active volcano on Sicily's east coast.

Meena Thiruvengadam is a Travel Leisure contributor who has visited 50 countries on six continents and 47 U.S. states. She loves historic plaques, wandering new streets and walking on beaches. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.

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