Italy is somewhere that might be worth investing in the long term. The Italian government gives grants to buyers who purchase in rural areas.
http://www.hiday.net/

John this is true but its is not that easy to get grants so if you are a potential buyer I would suggest you to approch a professional estate agent, not very easy to find on the Italian real estate market Anyway a good estate agent is able to tell you if you can apply for a grant or not before actually buying the property.