Growing up in Scotland with an Italian name has not always been easy, says Cesidio Di Ciacca. His name, he said, once belonged to his grandfather, an Italian immigrant he never met because he died at sea during World War II. “I really had to find out for myself who I was, who I was,” Di Siaka told guest presenter Tom Harrington As It Happens. “And the more I dealt with it, the more I had the opportunity to … try to do something.” And by “do something”, he meant to buy every piece of property in the abandoned Italian village that his grandparents once called home, to restore the village to its original splendor and turn it into a travel destination for members of the Italian community everywhere. The world. It’s a passionate project that has been around for more than 10 years – and one that involves a lot of time, money and bureaucratic controversy. “[I feel] stupid in a sense. “Why did I bother to do this?” said Di Ciacca. “But in reality, I know I’m really proud. “Because what has been done – what it continues to do and, I suspect, will continue to do – is to give hope to many people who would otherwise’s think this was a forgotten area.” Cesidio Di Ciacca, left, stands outside a building in his Italian village, holding Raffaela’s granddaughter. From left to right is his wife Celina holding their granddaughter Eleonora, his son Giovanni, his son-in-law Luigi and his daughter Sophia. (Submitted by Cesidio Di Ciacca) Borgo I Ciacca is a rural settlement dating back to 1500 and named after the Ciacca family. It is a beautiful location, he said, in the Ciociaria region, between Rome and Naples. But when he first encountered it, he had been abandoned for more than 50 years. “There were trees growing inside some of the structures. It was impossible to reach much of it because it was completely overgrown. And many people in the neighboring town … had really forgotten that it existed,” he said. But over the past decade, it has slowly regained its former glory – one sale of land, one renovation contract and one inspection at a time. He estimates that the whole issue is about 90 percent complete. “It looks bright and clean and really exciting. People feel very relaxed there,” he said. “We are sitting right in the middle of a vineyard on one side and the forest on the other. It is a wonderful, wonderful view, a true 360 degree view all the way. We are very lucky.” A stone construction in the once abandoned Italian village of Borgo I Ciacca. (Submitted by Cesidio Di Ciacca) Buying the village was not an easy feat, he said. It’s not something he could do with a fall. The land, he said, belonged to 140 people from 11 different families scattered around the world. It is the result of the Italian property law that passes the inheritance not only to the older heir of a landowner, but to all his children. There Di Ciacca says his career as a real estate and corporate lawyer has been rewarding. He located the owners, negotiated with them individually and offered to buy their land in what he estimated was the full market value of the area – although, he says, everything there was unused and dilapidated. “For many years, people refused to sell to each other,” he said. “But for whatever reason, everyone agreed to sell to me. Maybe they just got to the end of the line.” He would not reveal the cost of his venture – but it was a nice penny, at least. Not to mention the cost of renovating existing structures and ensuring that they comply with the Italian code in a seismic part of the country. Renovated houses in the once abandoned village of Borgo I Ciacca in the Italian region of Ciociaria, between Rome and Naples. (Submitted by Cesidio Di Ciacca) These days, the village hosts a functional winery and vineyard and a library that hosts cultural events. His next step is to open an Italian cooking school there. There has also been a hotel in nearby Picinisco since 2012. His target market, he says, is people like him – Italian expatriates or their descendants who want to reconnect with their cultural roots. Asked why he did all this, Di Ciacca recycled an answer he had once given to someone else. “My daughter asked me the same question when I started this. And it took me three days to find an answer,” he said. “I said, ‘Sophia, I have the financial resources right now.’ I have the education. I have the contacts. I have the experience. And I have the opportunity to do everything And I do not want to be in 20 or 30 years with you asking me why I did not. “ Written by Sheena Goodyear. Interview with Kate Swoger.
