Castello di Castellamonte

The Castellamonte Castle is a medieval building situated on the hill overlooking the city. The earliest sources that document its presence dating back to 1066, but the structure had to be earlier. It became one of the most important fortified structures of Canavese under the descendants of Arduino, Marquis of Ivrea, then king of Italy: the wall surrounded the whole hill and was accessible by seven gates still visible. The original Castle, destroyed during the Tuchini Rebellion (1383-1387) that devastated the region, was rebuilt at the beginning of the fifteenth century. Of that era remain the tower-gate of the wall, the tower-door and the general structure, with four buildings arose around the access road. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the entire property went to the accounts of St. Martin of Sale and Castelnuovo; then move on to the accounts Ricardi of Netro. The complex is now made up of four buildings, which are accessed through a Baroque portal that leads into the large square-garden, and various sections of the perimeter wall. The building to the right, "White Palace", has a seventeenth century plant attributed to the architect Amedeo di Castellamonte; the left one, "Red Tower" is the work of Luigi Formento, who turned it into a villa in neo-Gothic style.