KNOWN as the European Las Vegas, Consonno was the brainchild and playground of eccentric Italian entrepreneur Count Mario Bagno.

The incredible mountain-top resort was built in the late 60s after construction magnate Bagno bought the high-altitude village with plans to transform it into the the so-called Città dei Balocchi – ‘City of Toys’.

The resort was a short distance from Milan in the Italian Alps and lured visitors and celebrities from across the country with the promise of casinos, shopping galleries, restaurants, a grand hotel and even a fake castle.

But now the party town sits crumbling on the hillside with nature taking over the once flamboyant buildings.

Bagno had made his fortune building many of Italy’s roads and airports during the country’s post-war economic boom but had decided to branch out in the 60s.

The Count’s plans were fairly brutal though. He bought the rural village for around £10,000 (£150,000 in today’s money) and quickly evicted the 60 residents, then he razed the old village to the ground except for the church and its cemetery, and the rectory (perhaps wisely).

Incredibly some residents decided to stay on and allegedly worked for a pittance in the new resort town.

Bagno used a combination of bulldozers and dynamite to flatten the old town, but this caused landslides in the steep inclines forcing a delay to the grand opening.

New roads were put in, homes were flattened and even a small hill next to the cemetery was blown-up just to improve the view of the Alps.

It seemed that the construction would be an ongoing interruption to the once peaceful village. Bagno was also constantly changing his plans, causing the development to drag way beyond the original schedule.

The end result was a hotchpotch of architectural fantasies including a minaret tower, Arabic arches, elaborate fountains, Chinese pagodas and the faux medieval castle.

Plans were also afoot for a motor-racing circuit, a zoo, tennis courts, mini-golf, a casino, a football field, a bowling alley, an amusement park and even an Egyptian Sphinx.

Despite the constant construction, the regular changing of plans and the clashing architecture, the party town thrived for the first few years with the well-to-do in Milan and beyond clambering to be at the place where ‘the party never ends’.

However it did end, and it ended quite dramatically when yet another landslide rocked the rugged resort.

On October 1976 debris rolled down the hillside blocking the town’s main artery road and the only way in and out.

While the blockage was eventually cleared it was obvious that the economic damage had already been done.

Count Bagno came to the conclusion that the remote location was not ideal for profiting from tourism.

Instead, he saw potential in establishing an old people’s home to generate more stable wealth.

During the 1980s, he formulated plans to renovate and transform the former Grand Hotel into a residence for elderly individuals.

Unfortunately, his vision remained unrealised as he passed away in October 1995, leaving the development in limbo.

Subsequently, Count Bagno’s estate made the decision to close the facility in June 2007.

In the years that followed word soon got around and illegal raves were held here which really took their toll on the already crumbling infrastructure.

The Bagno family still own the village and there have been plenty of rumours about a sale and redevelopment, but for now the Count’s City of Toys will remain as playground for urban explorers and fans of abandoned buildings.