Nonidentical twin sister of the neighbouring Langhe, the Roero region mustn't be mistaken with its famous sibling. Characterised by a sharper landscape, Roero offers distinctive wines, historical fruit varieties, breath-taking hiking trails as well as an impressive array of residences and castles scattered on its gorgeous hills.
Riserva del
Roero
Riserva del
Roero
A Beautiful Sister
Discover all the excellence in this Riserva
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Culture
Food & Wine
Events
The honey road
A Trip along Roero's Beekeeping Tradition
Since the year 2005, the Roero area – located near the cities of Cuneo and Asti in Italy’s Piedmont region – has been the site of an important initiative in the country’s significant beekeeping and honey making tradition.
Long recognized as an area that is particularly well suited to beekeeping and honey production, the establishment of the Strada del Miele (Honey Road) has consolidated and formalized this local tradition, while offering visitors and locals alike 38 kilometres of well-marked paths that cut through the heart of the area.
The path begins in the town of Bra and ends in Cisterna d’Asti, cutting through the historical town centres of 11 local towns along the way.
A walk along the Strada del Miele also highlights Roero’s stunning natural beauty and provides access to local beekeeping farms, where honey products can be tasted and purchased. The Strada del Miele is a unique and enjoyable way to experience a taste of the innumerable culinary and natural delights that the Roero region has to offer.
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Perfect Microclimate, Perfect Wine!
Wines of Roero
Perfect Microclimate, Perfect Wine!
Wines of Roero
Along the left bank of the river Tanaro lies Roero, a great wine-producing territory in the north-east of the Province of Cuneo. Very close to another area renowned for its excellent winemaking – the district of the Langhe – the territory takes its name after an ancient aristocratic family from Asti, the Roeros, who were the owners of these lands up to the 1700s.
Like its neighbouring regions, Roero has a typically hilly landform and a strong agricultural tradition.
Besides the cultivation of vines, which goes back to the Roman Era, the area of Roero excels in the cultivation and production of truffles, hazelnuts and apples. However, the flagship of the territory is, without a doubt, the production of high quality wines.
Roero is, along with the Langhe, a unique place for winemaking; one of the best in the world. And the cause of this is to be found in its geographic collocation, its ideal climate and the richness of its soil (the so-called “Cru”), all of which contribute to the making of a generous bio-diversity.
What distinguishes Roero from all other areas, however, are its evocative rocks, the steep and precipitous rock walls, which suddenly break the landscape.
The Apennines protect the hilly slopes from the air blowing in from the sea, thus becoming a natural ally.
The weather trend is another determining factor for the making of a good wine. With every vintage, the wine will be different from the one before and unique in its kind. It can vary in longevity and will preserve its distinctive features in time.
The presence of valleys and hills creating diverse micro-climatic conditions and, more generally, the cold, continental, moderate climate, characterized by clearly defined seasons, enable the grapes to bring forth particularly fine and intense aromas.
The temperature leap between day and night during the ripening of the grapes heightens the concentration of aromas in the peel and allows for proportion among the components, which brings about quality structured wines, with high longevity and great smoothness. The sandy, soft soil of Roero is compact and solid, which also permits the production of excellent, fruity whites.
The most common grape varieties of Roero are the white Arneis, the red Nebbiolo and Barbera, followed by Favorita and Brachetto.
One of the most celebrated wines in the district is the Roero or the Roero Superiore. The denomination Roero, without other specifications, is strictly reserved for red wines made with grapes from vines with the following content: 95-98% Nebbiolo and 2-5% Arneis. The Roero Rosso is ruby-red and tends to take the colour of garnet when it ages, it has a rich bouquet of raspberry and wild strawberry, it is not particularly structured and does not contain a lot of tannin, but it is warm, quaffable and pleasantly smooth, which results in an excellent pairing with simple meat dishes or less seasoned cheeses.
The Roero Superiore, on the other hand, can be perfectly paired with more important dishes, like game, wildfowl or stews.
The denomination Roero Arneis is naturally reserved for the white wine made exclusively with grapes from the variety Arneis and can also be used for Spumante (Roero Arneis Spumante).
The Roero Arneis is an elegant, straw-coloured wine with a flowery aroma, with hints of chamomile and broom, apple, peach and hazelnut, sometimes slightly herbaceous.
It is decisively fresh and sometimes sparkly, but sufficiently smooth to be paired with dishes prepared with shellfish or vegetables, white meat or grilled fish.
So, what are you waiting for? Pour yourself a glass of wine!
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The Value of Wine
Bra's Wine Bank
The Value of Wine
Bra's Wine Bank
Located in the historical cellars of the Agenzia di Pollenzo, the Banca del Vino (Wine Bank), is home to some of the best wines in Italy.
The cellars themselves were constructed in 1838, when they were used by the Savoys in the production of high quality wines for banquets held in the European courts.
The Wine Bank was set up in 2001, as an initiative to maintain and deepen understanding about the most special wines produced across the Italian territory.
The huge cellar contains more than 100,000 bottles of wine, which come from three hundred of the most prestigious Italian wineries and which will only be made available for consumption after a very thorough process of selection, refinement and maturing.
The cellar is open to the public and guided tours and tasting sessions allow visitors to form a concrete idea of the wealth of the Italian oenological culture.
The ideal of the wine bank is not simply to protect and preserve wine, but also to share a passion for and understanding of the territories and people who are behind every label. Here, wine is not considered simply a drink, but a representation of a particular territory and a unique cultural heritage. With a glass in hand, take this opportunity to learn about the Italian oenological landscape region by region and taste the wines that form part of the country’s rich history.
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Rural Culture
The Museum of Cisterna d'Asti
Rural Culture
The Museum of Cisterna d'Asti
Cisterna d’Asti, a hilly place known internationally for its wines and located near the Asti and Cuneo border, harbours an exceptional museum commemorating the area’s rural past. The solid 17th century Cisterna Castle houses the museum, and the surrounding hillside and greenery complement the tallest viewpoint from the castle.
The view from the castle is worth the trip in itself and the museum will help the visitor understand why winemaking, for example, is an important part of the area.
The Museum of the Ancient Arts and Crafts in Cisterna D’Asti began in 1980 thanks to the passion and dedication of a few locals to conserve their rural traditions for future generations. The museum contains more than 3,000 objects of the 17th to the 20th centuries, from Cisterna and surroundings that are collected in 20 workshops.
Four thematic tours (Bread-making, the basis of day to day rural nutrition; an Asti woman’s life; wagon constructors; itinerant trade) give the visitor a well-rounded idea of what rural life was like in past centuries. The visitor can learn about the ancient oven of Cisterna where bread was made communally and the history of the wagon and its ‘mechanic’. Experience the life of women in Asti, especially of women in farming families and the history of itinerant trades of men that travelled from the mountain to the hillside until the end of World War II.
The castle went from a fortified enclosure in the XII century to a noble residence of the Del Pozzo family during the Baroque era.
Accessed through a bricked tower-door, its architecture goes back to the late 16th century. The first floor of the castle combines the warehouses of the many trades that existed in the Asti rural life and a cistern from which the castle derives its name. The second floor is located in the castle’s attic and includes the artisanal tools and objects like musical instruments, agricultural carts, and oenological tools from the period.
The museum looks to the future generations by offering various classes to students from elementary to middle school including bee keeping, candle making, traditional Piedmontese dancing, and natural excursions to name a few.
To know more about the castle and museum’s opening times, check the castle’s official website.
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Sweet Pear of Mine
the Madernassa Pear
Sweet Pear of Mine
the Madernassa Pear
A traditional fruit of the Roero region, the Pera Madernassa vaunts a long history on the fertile Piedmontese soils.
It’s actually possible to establish with almost absolute accuracy when the Madernassa pear came into being: the mother tree was cut down in 1914 and was by then a magnificent tree of 130 years, grown from a seed that had accidentally found its way into the grounds of the Cascina Gavello in the hamlet of Madernassa, between Guarene and Castagnito.
The fruit of this tree, which is related to the older and well-known variety Martin Sec, was highly valued and cherished among the locals for its unique flavour and aroma, so much so that it became a source of pride.
It therefore became known as Pera Madernassa, in honour of the lands where it grew.
These savoury fruits quickly spread to other areas but it remained here, in the Roero, with its rich soils, that the Madernassa variety came to its full potential and where it is still very much sought after.
It’s a rustic, crisp and compact fruit, particularly apt for cooking, even though it is also enjoyable raw, at just the right ripeness.
The flavour is sweet and slightly fragrant, in perfect harmony with the quality of the pulp and its tartness. When it is cooked, new aromas are developed, transforming the Madernassa pear into an exquisite dessert, to be enjoyed on its own or paired with sweet sauces and garnishes. A typical recipe of Roero and Langhe consists in cooking Madernassa pears in wine, sugar and spices until they become syrupy, and they are then served at the end of a meal!
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A Castle on the Romantic Route
Magliano Alfieri Castle
A Castle on the Romantic Route
Magliano Alfieri Castle
One of the stops on the Strada Romantica of the Langhe and Roero (the romantic route of Langhe and Roero), this elegant castle stands on a hill overlooking the village of Magliano and the surrounding Roero region. Construction of the present building started in 1649 on the ruins of an ancient fortress built by the noble family De Malian and whose first historical records date back to 998.
Catalano Alfieri, who commissioned the castle, was a member of the powerful Alfieri family and worked as a tax collector for the House of Savoy. Apparently he did his job with such zeal that everybody hated him. An old saying in Piedmontese dialect says "May the Lord protect us from lightning, thunder and the Catalano count".
Accused of treason for failing to seize Savona and Genoa, Catalano was sentenced to death and thrown in the dungeons of the Palazzo Madama in Turin, where he died of a heart attack in 1674.
Construction of the castle was continued by his son, Carlo Emanuele, and the castle remained property of the Alfieri family until 1797, when the family line ended.
Famous Italian poet Vittorio Alfieri spent some of his early years in the castle.
After changing hands several times the estate was given to the parish of Sant’Andrea and later donated by the same church to the township of Magliano.
The castle, unluckily stripped of its rich furnishings, is structurally intact and now restored to its original splendour.
Its compact, late-Renaissance structure is complemented by the more refined elegance of baroque decoration; although it is not known who the architect was, the influence of Amedeo di Castellamonte, or someone’s in his circle, is clearly recognizable in the elegance and grandeur of the building.
The east wing on the first floor houses the Museum of Art and Folk Traditions with exhibits on the culture, art and folklore of Piedmont, including an interesting section dedicated to the traditional decorated plaster ceilings found in local farmhouses.
To the north side of the castle you can find the splendidly frescoed Crucifixion Chapel, built in the second half of the 18th century and decorated with frescoes by Pietro Paolo Operti and Pietro Antonio Pozzo. To the left, set in lush parkland, is the parish church of St. Andrea, also worthy of a visit.
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When Kings Go on Holiday
Govone Castle
When Kings Go on Holiday
Govone Castle
Set on a hilltop on the border between Roero and Monferrato, the castle of Govone is part of the network of Royal Residences of Piedmont and a UNESCO world Heritage site.
The imposing structure was built by the Solaro counts, lords of Govone since the 10th century, at the end of the 17th century. The southern façade was designed by famous baroque architect Guarino Guarini, while its northern counterpart by Benedetto Alfieri, pupil of Filippo Juvarra.
Acquired by the royal Savoy family in 1792, it became the favourite summer residence of King Charles Felix and his wife Marie Christine of Bourbon, who decided to renovate it in the 1820s.
The renovation, carried out under the guidance of architects Giuseppe Cardone and Michele Borda, was completed in 1825: it mainly focused on modernising the gardens and the interior, which was already decorated with precious Chinese wallpaper.
A striking series of chiaroscuro frescoes depicting the myth of Niobe were painted by Luigi Vacca and Fabrizio Sevesi in the central hall, while the mythological paintings decorating the royal apartments are the work of Carlo Pagani and Andrea Piazza.
Charles Felix died in 1831 without heirs so that the next in line to the throne was Charles Albert, a member of the Savoy-Carignano branch of the family. When Marie Christine died in 1849 the castle passed to Ferdinand Duke of Genoa, who had the belvedere built on the roof.
In 1870 the castle and estate were sold to a private buyer and, a few years later, the castle was handed over to the municipal authorities and some of its interior furnishings were put up for auction.
Today it is a popular destination for visitors attracted by the imposing building and its interior, while the elegant gardens, where you can admire a wide variety of roses and rare examples of wild tulips, and the surrounding grounds host a series of events.
They include Tulipani a Corte (tulips at the court), a wild tulips fair in April, the Regalmente Rosa fair in May to celebrate the blooming of the roses with period music, shows, food and costume parades and the Christmas Wonderland in winter, when Santa visits the castle.
Tip: if you visit in the evening, during the summer the lights illuminate the castle and the fireflies in the garden light up the trees.
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A Taste of the Woods
Trilobata Hazelnut
A Taste of the Woods
Trilobata Hazelnut
Italy is one of the world’s largest producers of hazelnuts, rivalled only by Turkey. The Piedmontese hazelnut, however, is recognised as a special variety thanks to its distinctive flavour.
The Tonda Gentile Trilobata, so called because of its perfectly round shape, is amongst the world’s best hazelnuts not only because of its delicious taste but also because it is easy to peel and can be stored for long periods without losing its characteristics.
It grows in the hilly areas of Langhe, Roero and Monferrato and is a protected I.G.P. (protected designation of origin) product, which means that the quality and the authenticity of the product are guaranteed.
Its popularity comes from the famous Gianduiotto, a chocolate and hazelnut praline invented in 1806 when cocoa had become very expensive due to import limitations imposed by Napoleon.
To reduce the amount of cocoa, chocolate makers tried to add ground hazelnut and the result was an amazing success.
Italian chocolate-maker Ferrero conquered Italy, and eventually the world, with its Nutella, an industrial version of Gianduia cream (a cocoa and hazelnut cream). Now a giant company, Ferrero doesn’t exclusively use the local crop anymore, as production is not high enough: they use about a quarter of the world’s hazelnut supply — more than 100,000 tons every year!
Today the “tonda gentile” is used for a series of high quality preparations including the aforementioned Gianduiotto pralines, Gianduia spread, Torrone, hazelnut cake and brut e bon biscuits, all delicious and very popular.
When toasted correctly, it tastes spectacular – if you get the chance, exalt its aromatic savour with a glass of rich, red wine or try to dip it in honey.
Last but not least, recent studies seem to demonstrate that, if eaten regularly, hazelnuts have a positive effect on human health. They can help maintain low “bad cholesterol” levels in the blood, and thanks to their high vitamin E content, they supply a significant quantity of antioxidant agents.
So, whether you enjoy it alone or in one of the various mouth-watering preparations make sure you try this gentle and healthy delicacy!
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Remains of the Past and Outlooks on the Future
The Agenzia of Pollenzo
Remains of the Past and Outlooks on the Future
The Agenzia of Pollenzo
The ancient town of ‘Pollentia’ on the left bank of the Tanaro is known today as ‘Pollenzo’, a community of Bra in the Province of Cuneo, Piedmont.
In antiquity, Pollentia was an important military site and it is thought to be here that Stilicho fought against Alaric in 403, leading to the Goths’ evacuation from Italy.
In 1832, King Carlo Alberto of Savoy carried out an important agricultural undertaking here, creating an agricultural business with fourteen dairy farms and overseeing the restructuring of an ancient castle and agrarian Agency.
The ancient Roman site thus underwent a transformation and restyling in the Neo-Gothic style, favoured across the European courts at this time.
The Savoy intervention saw numerous artists collaborating together, creating the new ‘medieval’ Pollenzo, with its square and fountain, church, castle and the Agency.
170 years after its creation as the main office and experimental center of the Savoyard estates, the Agency became the starting point for ‘Slow Food’, an organization created to counteract the rise of fast life and to promote interest in the food we eat, where it comes from and how food choices affect the world we live in. It aims to promote local food cultures and traditions and ensure that everybody has access to good, clean and fair food.
The Agency complex now contains a luxury hotel, the University of Gastronomic Sciences, the Wine Bank and the Guido Restaurant.
The university is the first entirely dedicated to the culture of food.
It promotes sustainable farming methods and the preservation of biodiversity. Inside the Agency building you can attend tasting and training courses and weekends dedicated to viticulture (the study of grapes) and oenology (the study of wine) led by the Wine Bank’s producers.
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A Gold Fish but not a Goldfish!
The Tench of Ceresole d'Alba
A Gold Fish but not a Goldfish!
The Tench of Ceresole d'Alba
One of the highlights of a tour around the towns and villages of the Roero region is a visit to Ceresole d’Alba to sample the Golden Tench for which the Pianalto di Poirino, a vast plateau extending from Roero to the plains of the Po River, is famous.
A member of the Carp family, the Tinca di Ceresole d’Alba is a fresh, still water fish farmed exclusively in the area known as the Terre Rosse, which derives its name from the reddish clay soil typical to the area.
Of the numerous lakes and fish ponds dotted across the landscape of the high plains, it is those of Ceresole d’Alba that are best renowned for their tench.
Distinguished by its reddish-gold colour, as well as a particularly curved and bumpy spine, the Tinca di Ceresole d’Alba is appreciated for its lean, firm and compact meat and subtle flavour, which lacks the overly earthy taste common in tench of a lesser quality. It also has few bones, making it easy to eat.
The farming of Golden Tench in Ceresole d’Alba has a long and rich history, dating back to the 13th century.
Necessity being the mother of invention, it was the difficult terrain and lack of water in the area that led local inhabitants to dig the clay soil to create artificial lakes and ponds to collect water for their livestock, irrigate their crops and breed fish for personal consumption, an activity which later became a major source of local income.
With the drilling of wells in the second half of the 20th century, the ponds lost their strategic importance and fell out of use, marking an end to large scale commercial fish farming in the area. The 1980s saw a revival of the tradition, however, and now the Tinca di Ceresole d’ Alba not only enjoys the prestigious Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status but also bears the Slow Food logo, having been selected by the Slow Food Presidium, which works to revive, protect and promote the small-scale production of unique, local products which might otherwise disappear from the market.
While the Tinca di Ceresole d’Alba is available throughout the year, the main season runs from April to October, when it features predominantly on local restaurant menus.
The fish is generally served fried or pickled, and typical dishes include the fried ‘small fry’ served in the spring, Tinche al Brusch, a summer recipe which involves frying the fish before marinating it in vinegar, white wine and aromatic herbs, and the classic Piemontese Carpione, in which the fish is cooked in a broth of wine, vinegar, salt, sugar, rosemary, sage and onion.
On the first Sunday of September - the feast day of the town’s patron - many local inhabitants observe the tradition of catching their own Tinca and cooking it fried for lunch, a tradition also celebrated in the town’s local restaurants, which attract visitors from far and wide for the occasion.
In a more original recipe, the fish is dried in pieces of cloth for a minimum of 24 hours before being cooked and used to dress risotto. So, whether you are one of the culinary curious or simply looking for a good place to eat before heading off to visit other parts of the Reserve, be sure to stop off in Ceresole d’ Alba, whatever the season, you will not be disappointed!
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White Flowers in December
Santuario della Madonna dei Fiori
White Flowers in December
Santuario della Madonna dei Fiori
In the northern part of the city of Bra, heading towards Turin, stands the Santuario della Madonna dei Fiori (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Flowers); a religious edifice composed of the Santuario Vecchio (the Old Sanctuary), the Santuario Nuovo (the New Sanctuary) and the Casa degli Esercizi Spirituali, a care home for elderly priests.
The Santuario Vecchio was built in 1626 on the same spot where a chapel used to venerate a Marian apparition in 1336.
A young woman with child, Egidia Mathis, was walking by a votive column consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, when she was approached by two rough soldiers with wicked intentions. Egidia turned desperately towards the Madonna on the column, crying out for help. And help came, when the Madonna herself suddenly appeared, making the wrong-doers flee. Despite the harsh December weather, the blackthorn bushes were suddenly filled with white flowers, and the saying goes that this is why these bushes flower in exactly this period year after year.
The building is longitudinal and has three chapels on each side. In one of these we find a statue of Our Lady of Flowers, which every year on the 8th of September - Bra’s patronage festival - is carried around town. Inside the Sanctuary also stands a painting worthy of interest, depicting Our Lady of Flowers, by the famous Flemish painter Jean Claret.
The Santuario Nuovo was erected much later, in 1933, and remains incomplete to this day. The building has a central plan with two twin bell towers, while its internal frescoes are by Piero dalle Ceste, as is the large painting representing the aforementioned Marian apparition.
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A Royal Exception
Bra's Famous Sausage
A Royal Exception
Bra's Famous Sausage
‘Salsiccia di Bra’ is a product typical of Braidese charcuterie, made with fresh meats coming from Piedmontese farms.
The sausage consists of bovine meat cuts, such as veal belly or shoulder, mixed with pork underbelly at a ratio of 8:2. The unconventional nature of a sausage made of meat other than pork was sanctioned in 1847 by decree of Carlo Alberto of Savoy, who declared it to be the only beef sausage allowed to be produced in the kingdom.
Added to the mixture is a selection of aromatic spices, such as cinnamon, cloves, coriander and nutmeg.
In more recent innovations to the recipe, the addition of white wine and grana cheese is permitted, but the use of synthetic gut to pack the sausage meat is expressly forbidden and packing in natural lamb gut is obligatory.
The final product comes in a long cylindrical shape, a minimum of 1 meter long, with a smooth outer surface and a pink inside.
It is sold fresh and is traditionally eaten raw, but if raw sausage is too terrifying a prospect, it also tastes good grilled or crumbled over pasta.
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A Dream Come True
Guarene Castle
A Dream Come True
Guarene Castle
Commissioned in 1726 by wealthy local nobleman and landowner Carlo Giacinto Roero, the Castle of Guarene enjoys a magnificent view over UNESCO World Heritage Sites Langhe, Monferrato and Roero hills.
Built on the site of a pre-existing 13th century fortress, the castle boasts sumptuous interiors and the extensive surrounding gardens, the works of which were superintended by the Carlo Giacinto Roero himself and completed by his sons Traiano and Teodoro.
The palace had its highest moment when King Vittorio Amedeo III of Sardinia and the queen paid a royal visit in 1773.
When the last member of the Roero family died without heirs the castle passed on to the Provana family, who sold it to a top-level hotel group in 2011.
After careful restoration, the palace is now both a museum and luxury hotel and restaurant.
As a visitor to the museum you can explore fifteen historical interior rooms on either side of the central hall (Salone d’Onore). The Stanza del Vescovo (Bishop’s Room) and the Camera Azzurra (the Blue Room) are still completely intact, and display spectacular examples of Piedmontese baroque bandera embroidery, a traditional form of embroidery where plain cotton fabric was enriched with patterns inspired by the Italian baroque architecture. Instead, the two Chinese Rooms (Sale Cinesi) are richly decorated in 18th-century hand-painted Chinese wallpaper.
The Dining Hall and Gallery boast frescoed vaults which compare in beauty to those at the Palazzina di Caccia in Stupinigi, while the nineteenth-century vaulted ceiling of the Sala della Musica (Music Room) is equally delightful.
Throughout the palace visitors can find paintings by Scipione and Vittorio Amedeo Cignaroli and by Domenico Duprà as well as fine example of antique furniture, ranging from 17th century carved wooden chests to exquisite examples of Louis XVI furnishings.
Among the highlights of the museum is the library, a real treat for connoisseurs and a fascinating sight for all.
Both palace and gardens are open to the public on Saturday and Sunday. Visits are by appointment only and are conducted as guided tours; a tour lasts about 40 minutes.
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A Castle in Bloom
Pralormo Castle
A Castle in Bloom
Pralormo Castle
The origins of Pralormo Castle can be traced back to the 13th century, when it was a foursquare fortress, built to defend the territory.
From the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 19th century, the building was surrounded by a moat and the access to the castle came through a drawbridge and a ramp that ran parallel to the western façade, where today stands the portico entrance.
The history of the castle is very much intertwined with that of the families who have owned it throughout the centuries.
Founded by the Anterisio family, the castle then passed on to the Biandrates and the Roeros. The latter expanded the castle, adding two rounded towers on the north-west and the south-east sides and a keep to the south-east.
In 1399, three brothers of the Roero family divided the castle and the lands among them in equal parts, which then again were divided in minor fractions and in this manner many families took possession of parts of the lands and the castle.
It was in 1680 that the forefather of the present residing family, Giacomo Beraudo, came to be the owner of the estate. His heirs shared a fondness for the place and they carried out major changes; in 1730 they had the architect Galletti build the charming chapel and subsequently added halls and rooms with frescoed ceilings above it.
In the decade between 1830-40, Count Carlo Beraudo of Pralormo, Ambassador to Vienna and Paris and Minister to the Court of Carlo Alberto of Savoy, became the sole owner of the castle and oversaw the transformation of the interior décor by the famous architect Ernesto Melano, creator of the makeover of the Royal Palace of Racconigi.
The moat and drawbridge were done away with, the portico entrance built, along with a grand staircase and the centre courtyard was covered and converted into a three-storey great hall with a vault and skylight, an arcade and neo-classical windows on the inside.
Count Carlo also summoned the illustrious German landscape architect Xavier Kurten, who created the magnificent English gardens surrounding the castle.
These gardens are now an example of one of the finest annual flower festivals in the country, the Messer Tulipano (Sir Tulip).
Each spring, the castle gardens boast more than 50,000 blossoming tulips of many varieties, including the tulip dedicated to the countess of Pralormo by the Dutch and the renowned black tulip.
Throughout the month of April, the park is open to the public; not only tulips but lilacs, irises and peonies will be announcing that Spring has finally arrived!
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Piedmont's eco-museum
The 'Rocche' of Roero
Piedmont's eco-museum
The 'Rocche' of Roero
For those in search of an alternative to the extensive architectural and artistic treasures conserved in Italy’s impressive museums, the Rocche del Roero, an open air “eco-museum” tucked away in a picturesque corner of the Piedmont region, does not disappoint.
The museum joins eight small towns - all founded in the medieval period - situated on the peaks of the area’s characteristic jutting rock formations.
The towns share many historical, geographic and cultural qualities, and the creation in the eco-museum of numerous well-maintained hiking and biking paths provides visitors a unique mean with which to experience the best of the area.
With a trail network over 100 kilometres long, the ecomuseum showcases Roero’s beautiful hills and marl cliffs, as well as the ancient towns with their stone buildings and small panoramic piazzas. The trail stretches from Cisterna to Pocapaglia and runs along Roero’s incredible and ever-changing landscape: gorges, sand pinnacles, rock formations and again vineyards, small towns, softer hills...
Why not try the “truffle path” for an introduction to the Rocche’s white truffle production, or the “fossil path” to learn more about local geological discoveries?
The Rocche’s town centres provide any number of excellent dining and lodging options, making this the ideal destination for your next “bio-vacation”, or even a day out in nature while on a more conventional Piedmont and Langhe holiday!
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Just Peachy!
Canale Peaches
A juicy product from the small town of Canale, these local peaches are a Slow Food
Presidium and vaunt an incredible flavour.
Presidium and vaunt an incredible flavour.
Just Peachy!
Canale Peaches
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The People's Entrepreneur
Adriano Olivetti
Riserva di Ivrea
The Joy of Gioi
Soppressata di Gioi
Riserva del Cilento
Twenty Chapels, One Sacred Mount
Sacro Monte di Orta
Riserva del Lago d'Orta
Two Names, One Church
Duomo di Novara
Riserva di Novara
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Tulips, Tulips, Tulips!
Messer Tulipano
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The Colourful Works of a Free Spirit
Francesco Nex
Riserva di Aosta
A Toast to Tradition
Bière des Salasses
Riserva di Aosta
The Way of Silence
San Giulio island
Riserva del Lago d'Orta
A 19th Century Outpost
Fortino di Bruto
Riserva di Capri
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Cheese!
Bra's Cheese Fair
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Not Your Average Bird
Cappone di Morozzo Fair
Riserva del Monregalese
Where Mountain and Industry Meet
Cogne Mines
Riserva del Gran Paradiso
An Unforgettable Sound
Cremona's Violin Museums
Riserva di Cremona
Follow the (en)trail
Asti-style Finanziera
Riserva dell' Astigiano
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