Castello Di Sammezzano AKA Non Plus Ultra: Italy May 2017

The abandoned castle Sammezzano is a large Italian Palazzo in Tuscany built with red clay bricks and stones.

Built in 1605 by Spanish nobleman Ximenes of Aragon. Ferdinand Panciatichi Ximenes inherited the castle in the 19th century. He embarked on the craziest of renovation projects of the time and created one the largest examples of Moorish Revival architecture.

As you can see no expense was spared in this 36 year project. With materials sourced from around the globe to lavishly decorate the 365 rooms.

Inside the castle is like a labyrinth, each time you pass through a door into another room the extravagance takes your breath away. Each of the extravagantly decorated rooms are unique with no attention to detail spared, wrought iron chandeliers, Moroccan tiles, stucco ceilings ceramic plates coated in gold, stained glass and enameled plates from the Iberian Peninsula are just some of the delights to be seen here.

After WWii the castle apparently became a luxury hotel/spa/golf resort but in 1990 it finally closed and has been left empty ever since.

Since that time it has been used for photoshoots and filming including a huge advertising campaign by Thierry Mugler and Salma Hayek can be seen devouring a dragons heart in the film Tale of Tales.

During this time there had been plans to reopen Sammezzano as a luxury hotel but this never materialised. Finally in May 2017 after a number of failed auction attempts the castle was purchased on a provisional basis for 15.4 million euro by a company based in the United Arab Emirates. Hopefully their plans with the castle come to light and this amazing beauty will be loved once again.

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