Life of Italian nobility for sale, complete with rules and taxes

Pontassieve, Italy

NESTLED on a gentle Tuscan hill near this town just west of Florencesits a medieval castle that was once home to the few prominent noble families who plotted against the Medicis' rule during the Renaissance, some of whom are believed to have taken refuge here.

For centuries after, the descendants of the nobles and the peasants who served them lived sheltered by the fortress's crenelled walls or in the nearby country houses, and went to Mass in a rose stone church.

"I remember a procession of over 25 farmers' families to the Sunday's Mass here up until the …