Travel with EasyDayTrip and discover Santo Stefano di Sessanio
Italy

This tiny but extremely lovely village, dating from the Roman times, has seen a sad destiny of continuously losing its inhabitants. In the 19th century, the residents living mostly from agriculture became greatly impoverished. By the 1990s the town had lost more than 80 percent of its population; only around 100 remained. Fortunately, in the 1970s an ambitious Swede Daniele Kihlgren, bought a house here and began massive restoration of the village. He made a deal with the local authorities to invest his money in village restoration but under only one condition – the historic architecture of the village must be utterly preserved. A quarter of the town of Santo Stefano di Sessanio is today a part of a “dispersed hotel” called Sextantio. The “rooms’” of the hotel are scattered all around the village in ancient buildings, allowing guests to be immersed in the community. The success of Sextantio has influenced the development of entire village that features today cafes, restaurants, shops and galleries.