If you would like to do an Elizabeth Gilbert and eat, pray love in Italy but don’t think you can afford it, now could be your chance.

The mayor of Candela, a small medieval town in Puglia once known as ‘Little Naples’, is paying people to become residents, reports stuff.co.nz.

Nicola Gatta told CNN Travel that the move is aimed at reversing the declining population. In the 1990s, more than 8000 people called the town home, compared to just 2700 today.

Singles who relocate can expect to receive €800 (NZ$1350), couples €1200, three-member families up to €1800 and four-to-five-member families up to €2000.

‘I work each day with passion and commitment to bring Candela back to its ancient splendour,’ Gatta said. ‘Up until the 1960s, travellers called it ‘Nap’licchie’ (Little Naples), for it streets full of wayfarers, tourists, merchants and screaming vendors.’

Six families from northern Italy have already cashed in on relocating to the town and another five have applied to move.

Photographer Francesco Delvecchio, who moved from another part of Puglia, described the lifestyle in Candela as ‘quiet and simple’.

‘No crowds, easy to move around, no traffic or smog,’ he said.

Delvecchio said the town benefits from being ‘at the crossroads of three gorgeous Italian regions: Campania, Basilicata and Molise, with all the wonders each offers at hand’.

The town won’t just take anyone though: New arrivals must take up residency in Candela, rent a house and earn at least €7500 per year.

Candela is not the first place in Italy to offer to pay people to move there to boost the population. 

In May, the mayor of Bormida, a remote village in Liguria, offered to give new arrivals a welcome lump sump of €2000 and cheap rent of just €50 a month.

However, Daniel Galliano reportedly withdrew the Facebook offer after being inundated with replies.