Italy Castello di C, Italy - March 2022

[The_Raw]

As with many places in Italy it's hard to believe this 150 room castle is actually abandoned. It was the brain child of a successful Italian businessman, and although it looks like a typical medieval castle, it was in fact only built in 1913. After the First World War, when Mussolini came into power, the owner was jailed for causing "serious harm to the economy" due to some huge investments that went wrong, and the castle was seized by the government. It was bought by a priest who turned it into a tuberculosis rehabilitation centre, which operated until the 1970s. During the 1980s the castle was taken over by an international drug ring who used it for the production of heroin. The police raided it and and arrested 44 people. It is said to be the largest illegal drug laboratory ever found in Europe. In the early 2000s the castle was bought by an investor who planned to turn it into an event space, but the project fell through around 2010. It has sat abandoned ever since.

Italy always comes up with the goods. Thanks for looking ​