The story of Novanta

The story of Novanta began in the summer of 2014, when four guys  (Igor, Jeroen, Leonard and Mart) from Amsterdam stumbled upon an abandoned Tuscan village near Arezzo and Florence. Eager entrepreneurs full of energy and passion for such a beautiful spot in rural Italy, their goal was to open a pop-up hotel for 90 days.

Dining at long tables, trips to local producers and finding truffles and mushrooms in the woods made it into a real experience. It turned out to be a huge success! A success thanks to the beautiful natural surroundings, the peacefulness, and the liveliness of the authentic Tuscan country life. After a great first summer, guests were already making reservations for the next year, and very soon the pop up hotel, was a pop up no longer!

Now, Novanta is turning back into the thriving community it once was. There are vegetables growing once again in the ground and the fruit trees have sprung back in to life. We have residents all year round, tending to the land and restoring the village, and we work every day with the amazingly talented people around us – our neighbours and our friends. Their skills, their knowledge and their support allow us to build and restore Borgo di Gello into the bustling village it once was.

Novanta is constantly changing and developing with the passing years. In 2019 we became the proud owners of the whole valley – over 300 hectares of fields, rivers, forests and ruins, and featuring not only the Novanta Hotel in Borgo di Gello, but now also Castello di Gello where we are developing our Novanta Apartments! 

We will continue to grow in this beautiful village, to develop our community here and help to support the local people and businesses around us – but the spirit of our abandoned village will always remain in the Gello valley.