Some deride it as a tasteless white elephant; others laud it for its eccentricity. Whatever your position, this ‘mock’ Italian castle that rises out of jungle-like vegetation on the edge of the town of Lamas is certainly – ahem – different. It was built in the early 2000s by Italian industrialist Nicola Felice Aquilano, originally from Turin, who employed a local painter to decorate the walls and ceilings with frescos of Dante, Christian saints and Amazonian birds.

　　The renaissance-style castle has five floors, a pool, battlements, two towers and a cafe. Piped opera music fills its frescoed interior most days. You can wander around at will.