The entire contents of the Tuscan village of Tenuta de Castelfaflfi have been bought by a German tour company.
The picturesque village, once the home to a medieval community, will be renovated prior to its conversion into a holiday resort aimed at German tourists.
Every part of the village - except the church - was purchased by tour operator TUI, in deal rumoured to have cost around £170 million.
The local paper, Il Tirreno reported the news of the sale with the rather dramatic headline: "The Germans have conquered our village!"
Numerous renovation projects have failed in the past, with the majority of the village's residents leaving in the 1960s, inspiring several attempts to revive the settlement, the most recent of which failed in the early 90s.
TUI Travel, Europe largest tour operator, hopes that the deal could attract up to 3,200 guests to the region.
Traditionally the setting for low-key family holidays, thanks to its relatively small level of development, the proposed holiday playground would bring mass tourism to a typically quiet area of Italy
