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Sandigliano (Biella)- La Rocchetta Castle
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Show to visit in the Biella area: |
 La Rocchetta Castle is one of the two castles of Sandigliano. It was owned by the Sandigliano. The other castle is instead called "del Torrione" (of the tower) and was owned by the Vialardi.
La Rocchetta castle is located in the center of the village, behind the neo-Gothic parish church of Santa Maria Assunta. Built in the fourteenth century it was contiguous to the ricetto, being located at the north-east corner of the ricetto itself (which had an approximately circular shape). However, it was separated from it and therefore had its own entrance tower with drawbridge, a guard room and an observatory tower. The ricetto, of which today only a part of the walls remains and which is no longer recognizable as such, was a fortified area of the village where the inhabitants had their warehouses and where they found refuge in case of danger. However, it should be emphasized that while the castle was owned by the lords of the village, the shelter was owned by the population. It should be noted that the current bell tower of the parish church is represented by a Baroque extension of the original medieval tower which was placed in the center of the shelter and was used as a prison.
The castle has undergone many changes over the centuries. Its current appearance, however, dates back mainly to the fifteenth century.
Unlike most of the other castles in the Biella area which have complex and extensive structures, the La Rocchetta Castlel is small and compact.
It has a single tower, slightly higher than the rest of the structure. Both the tower and part of the main body are equipped with large machicolations supported by stone corbels. Note that in the second case they are located between the second and third floors, and not at the top as it normally is. This is because the structure was at a certain point raised but it was decided to leave the machicolations, perhaps simply for their decorative value.
The walls of the building are largely in exposed brick. In some parts, however, river pebbles prevail, arranged partly in a fishbone order but more often in a more disordered and casual way.
The numerous windows along all the external walls obviously represent changes made when the structure had lost its original defensive function.
The castle has two gardens: one towards the church, more exposed to view, and one at the back, entirely surrounded by walls and therefore very private.
After being closed to the public for several years, a skilful restoration work lasting three years allowed, on the initiative of the Rossi di Montelera counts, owners of the property, to convert the castle, starting from 2010, into an accommodation facility comprising 16 apartments of great charm and equipped with every comfort: Hotel-residence La Rocchetta
Categories: Places of historical value of artistic value
Via Casale, 4, 13876 Sandigliano
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La Rocchetta Castle: Further pictures in the section Photography |