There is a castle in Piedmont that makes you feel as if you are in a 19th-century novel.
It is the Miradolo Castle near Pinerolo, a fascinating small town at the entrance to the Chisone Valley, at the foot of the Alps, southwest of Turin.
I had meant to visit this place for a very long time but somehow never found the time. This Sunday, however, I said to myself I had to go since we are at the peak of the foliage season and I have read that this is the best time to visit Miradolo Castle.
After visiting the castle and its garden and seeing all the different types of plants, I can say that the visit is worthwhile any time of the year (they have an amazing variety of hydrangeas that must look wonderful in summer!). However, the scenery on a beautiful sunny autumn day is undoubtedly magical.
Miradolo Castle is located at the entrance of the Chisone Valley and comprises a noble house and a farm. The original structure dates back to the 17th and 18th centuries but a major renovation took place during the 19th century. This is probably why, when you enter the garden and the castle, you are immediately taken back in time and feel like the main character of a 19th-century feuilleton!
The first available information links the castle (which was only a farm at the beginning) to the Macello family, one of the most important landowners in the region. Giovanni Battista Macello changed its name from Macello to Massel and then enlarged his estate acquiring the Marquisate of Caresana.
The castle and its garden lived their golden years during the 1820s when Maria Elisabetta Ferrero della Marmora, known as “Babet”, married Marquis Maurizio Massel. She was a woman with a huge personality and plenty of initiative. Thanks to her the Citroniera, the round tower, and the surrounding wall were built. Also, the main façade was redone, neo-gothic decorations were added and the garden was enlarged.
In 1866, Marquise Teresa Massel, Maria Elisabetta’s granddaughter, married Luigi Cacherano di Bricherasio who, as a marriage gift, refurbished the old and rustic farm and transformed it into a noble residence, which is the one we can still see today.
Teresa and Luigi had two siblings, Sofia and Emanuele. Emanuele was one of the founding members of FIAT, the famous car factory in Italy, while Sofia is remembered for her intellectual and social activity and for using the castle as a place for social and cultural gatherings. The last member of the family, Sofia died in 1950 leaving Miradolo Castle to a religious order, which used the castle as a nursing home, adding some new structures to the original building. Later on, around the 1990s, the castle was abandoned.
In 2007, the estate was acquired by a group of privates and a major refurbishment started. First of all, they removed all the structures built after the death of Sofia, and are still working on both the castle and the garden to bring them back to their old splendor. The park surrounding the castle is more or less 6 hectares and shows both the original layout and the taste of those who worked on the surface in the 19th century. In fact, due to the changes brought about in 1800, the landscape has quite a romantic appearance.
The park is like an informal egg-shaped garden designed with a typical English taste. It offers beautiful specimens of historical and botanical importance and has an interesting channel irrigation system. The beautiful park also makes an ideal habitat for many species (I have seen multiple squirrels and was super happy because they are not a common sight in my area!). The refurbishment also brought back the greenhouse to its original neo-gothic charm.
The inside of the castle has been renovated but since the period of abandonment caused a lot of damage, it is not back to its original state. Instead, the new owners transformed it into an area for temporary art exhibitions, concerts, and cultural events. I was mainly interested in the garden so we didn’t visit the castle but had some tea and biscuits at the local cafeteria which has an equally lovely 19th-century atmosphere.
The castle is one of the many hidden gems you can find all around Italy. However, it was brought to fame recently because some scenes of the popular Netflix series La legge di Lidia Poët (The Law According to Lidia Poët) have been shot in the castle. In fact, the real Lidia Poët, the first Italian woman to be accepted into the Italian National Bar Council, lived in Pinerolo during the 19th century. So the castle was a perfect location for the show!
If you are in the area and are interested in parks and botanical gardens, I’d highly recommend you visit this beautiful castle in a lesser-known area of Piedmont. I loved seeing the foliage but I’d like to return to the castle to see the hydrangeas and camellias in bloom. Also, a cool thing is that they have a different audioguide for each season, so you can learn more about seasonal plants and blooms.
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