Digest>Archives> Sep/Oct 2015

Italy Auctions Lighthouse Leases

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The nation of Italy is auctioning off 50-year leases on 696 historic properties that it owns to help the nation pay its bills. Among these properties are a Bourbon fortress, stone watch towers, disused army barracks, unused convents, and ten lighthouses.

The lighthouses include the lighthouse of San Domino, on the Tremiti archipelago in the Adriatic Sea, which the government admits is in poor condition, and in Sardina, a long term lease is being offered for the Capo Comino Lighthouse near the town of Nuoro. The Cape Comino Lighthouse, built in 1903, was operated by the Italian Navy before falling into disrepair.

Other lighthouses being offered up for adoption include the Punta Cavazzi Lighthouse on the tiny island of Ustica, off Sicily, which is surrounded by one of Italy’s first marine reserves and the Brucoli Lighthouse that sits on a headland between Catania and Syracuse in eastern Sicily.

Also being offered is the Cape Grosso Lighthouse which is on Levanzo, part of an archipelago of barely inhabited islands off western Sicily, which is the lighthouse shown with this story.

The Italian government admits that most, but not all, of the lighthouses it is offering with 50-year leases will need some major restoration, but because of their beautiful settings, they could generate some good income for the right lease holders.

This story appeared in the Sep/Oct 2015 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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