Monferrato is the historical region of Piedmont, uniting the provinces of Alessandria and Asti. Although both provinces have important industrial sites (especially in the field of metallurgy and jewelry), it is rather a developed agricultural area. If in Alessandria more attention is paid to grain crops and fruits, then Asti, of course, is the land of winemakers. Located between Milan and Turin, Monferrato is one of the most developed and respectable regions of Italy with beautiful nature and many opportunities for both leisure and business. Even in the current difficult situation on the housing market, the local real estate retains a fairly high liquidity. Wine, strawberries, asparagus ... The charm of Monferrato is not limited to wines. The inhabitants of Turin and Milan, spoiled by beauty, come here to admire the picturesque hills - the journey by car takes only an hour. Admirers of the extraordinarily popular European gastronomic tourism make up a large proportion of foreigners visiting Piedmont. The region's cuisine is famous for its risotto, salami, porcini dishes, almost identical to porcini mushrooms, as well as rice flour cookies and chestnut cakes. Monferrato's cuisine combines recipes from Piedmont and Liguria, but specialties are also prepared here, such as the hot banya cauda sauce based on garlic, olive oil and anchovies. According to legend, the sauce was invented to interrupt the obsessive smell of pressed grapes - it was usually served to the table in the fall, during the wine-making season. Regionally, the hills of Monferrato are famous for asparagus and strawberries. In the markets in season, that is, in April-May, whole rows of counters are crammed with bright, fragrant, tasty strawberries and the freshest asparagus of white, green or purple colors. Houses in Monferrato seem to be specially created for organizing agritourism or bed and breakfast. A large proportion of offers for sale are old houses in former peasant farms with courtyards, a garden and land. Sports, tourism, attractions Monferrato is of interest to sports and nature lovers. Piedmont is famous for its world-class golf courses, which are always located in very beautiful places, some of them are located in Monferrato. There are also many horse breeding farms where you can buy a horse and practice equestrian sports. Three quarters of Monferrato's territory is hills and mountains. Lovers of trekking, mountaineering, mountain skiing will have a difficult choice between the local low Ligurian Alps and the Ligurian Apennines and the real Alps, which are two hours from Alessandria or Asti by car. A mesmerizing feature of the Ligurian mountains, whose height does not exceed 2000 m, is the proximity of snow and sea views from some ski resorts. About 100 km north of Monferrato lies Lake Maggiore, the main tourist destination in Piedmont. On a small square, which you can drive around in a day or two, there are many historic villas and gardens: Bella and Madre Islands with palaces and parks of the aristocratic Borromeo family, a park, an arboretum and a menagerie of the Genoese marquis Pallavicino, the villa of the English amateur botanist Taranto and the park " Alpinia ". After driving the same 100 km from Monferrato, but to the south, you find yourself on the Ligurian coast. This area, an extension of the French Riviera, is considered one of the most expensive and prestigious in Italy. The master's villa, farmhouse The crisis did not significantly reduce the prices of Italian real estate, but allowed buyers to choose from more options. Among the offers in Monferrato there are many historical or just old buildings: what seems exotic in many countries, in Italy is a fairly common type of housing. Here is the perfect property for horse lovers - or the perfect place for a small business bed and breakfast: a newly refurbished 420 sq. m with a garden of 4400 sq. m. On the first floor there is a kitchen, a dining room and a living room with a fireplace plus utility rooms and a wine cellar, on the second there are bedrooms that can be rented to guests, on the third there is a large master bedroom with a bathroom. All windows offer excellent views of the surrounding hills. Near the house there is a garage, a swimming pool and a small stable. The estate is located 124 km from Milan Malpensa Airport and 20 km from Asti. The offer price is 500,000 euros. Rooms, if desired, can be rented out as double hotel rooms for 70-80 euros per day, including breakfast. No less colorful building is a noble villa of the 17th century. in Alessandria. The total area of the three-storey building is 900 sq. m, all rooms have preserved colored frescoes, which (like the house as a whole) need careful restoration, the floor is covered with parquet, which is rare in Italy. On the first floor there are four salons (one of them with a large marble fireplace), utility rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a storage room for firewood, on the second there are eight bedrooms, but only three bathrooms. The upper floor is not yet divided by partitions, although during the renovation it could be turned into guest rooms. Plus 1400 sq. m of former stables and haylings, a servants' house with six rooms, and a garden of 2500 sq. m. Cost - 750,000 euros for everything. Modern housing In the rural regions of Italy, in contrast to the megalopolises, there is no need to talk about typical buildings. Even the buildings of the twentieth century. they do not look monotonous, the apartments in them are spacious, with a convenient layout. Options such as a terrace or fireplace are commonplace, not to mention utility rooms and balconies. An ordinary example is an apartment a stone's throw from the historic center of Casale Monferrato, in a building in 1950. The area of a three-room apartment is 90 sq. M. m, price - 80,000 euros. The spacious hall opens onto a kitchen-dining room, from which a corridor leads to two bedrooms and a bathroom. The apartment has two balconies, one of which is glazed, air conditioners, new double-glazed windows, mosquito nets are installed. There is a storage room in the basement of the building and a garage in the yard. There are very few new residential developments in northern Italy: for example, finding suitable newly built apartments in Milan and its surrounding suburbs (and this is the most actively growing region in the country) will take a year of intensive research. In rural areas, such proposals are especially few - especially now, when the volume of construction has significantly decreased. Among the proposals for new housing in Monferrato there are apartment complexes with two to four rooms. In accordance with modern requirements, solar panels for heating water are installed in them, there is sound and thermal insulation. A garage and storage room are usually provided for each apartment. Two-room apartment with an area of 81 sq. m in a similar complex in the commune of Cisterna d'Asti (population - about 1200 people) cost 140,000 euros. Nevertheless, the primary market in this region is weak: it is much easier to buy old, already renovated or in need of renovation housing. And, perhaps, it is in such a house that the charm of the truly Italian region of Monferrato is fully felt.
