There is a region in Italy that Italians say does not exist. "Molise doesn't exist, it resists" - reads a mural by street artist Biancoshock in the village of Civitacampomarano. This self-irony has become the unofficial symbol of one of the last genuinely untouched corners of Europe. 230 kilometres from Rome, smaller in population than Liechtenstein - and an offer that sounds impossible: up to €8,000 per year simply for moving there.

Molise is Italy's second-least populated region. Villages have been emptying for decades, and authorities decided to reverse the trend with financial incentives for new residents. The logic is simple: better to pay someone to come than to watch a village die. Does the Balkans know this model? The difference is that Italy offers money while our municipalities offer promises.

But why go to Molise beyond the money? The history is extraordinary. In Saepinum sits one of the world's best-preserved Roman archaeological parks - forums, basilicas, a first-century theatre. Sheep still pass through the same gates as they did two thousand years ago. In Isernia, the ancient Samnite city, rest the remains of "Homo aeserniensis" - over 700,000 years old. In Agnone, a bell foundry has operated without interruption since 1040 - the same method, the same craft, unchanged across centuries.

Civitacampomarano - 150 residents - was almost a dead village before 2014. Today, summer art festivals make it one of the most interesting spots in the region. Termoli on the coast has an 11th-century castle. Campobasso, the capital, is a medieval labyrinth above a modern centre. This is Italy before mass tourism - before "made for Instagram." Is it worth going? If you want authenticity more than the Colosseum with 50,000 daily visitors - the answer is obvious.