The Italian village where time has stopped. Photo

The medieval stone village.

On the steep slope of the Maritime Alps, near the Italian Riviera, halfway between Genoa and nice, the medieval village of colletta di Castelbianco.

It’s just a bunch of old stone houses with red tile roofs and blue Windows bordered with white paint.

But these medieval facades hides a high—tech secret-each house has fibre optic broadband Internet access and satellite TV, and the village has a sophisticated business centre with conferencing, faxes, audio and video equipment.

Colletta di Castelbianco was built in the 13th century, probably as a protection against the Saracens. But over the last few centuries, its inhabitants slowly left their homes in search of a decent life and not agricultural prospects. When in 1887 in the village, an earthquake, the trend intensified and Colette was completely abandoned in the 1950-ies.

In the late 1990-ies, colletta di Castelbianco picked up for conversion to one of Europe’s first e-village. Thanks to new telecommunication technologies, the project gave prospective residents the opportunity to live in a quiet secluded location in the countryside of Liguria, staying in contact with the working environment and the available information resources in the world.

These days, the cost of houses in colletta di Castelbianco is incredibly high. According to the article, published in Italy in 2008, the most expensive house at that time there was sold for 587000 euros. More affordable housing costs from 137 000 euros.

Today, the village regularly hosts cultural events such as exhibitions and concerts and food events to cook the best Italian dishes and wine tasting.

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