CASTELLO DI MIRADOLO

The castle of Miradolo is a building located at the entrance to the Val Chisone, from where there is a wonderful view of Monviso. It consists of a noble part and a rustic area, which between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century took on a conformation very similar to the present one. From the 1920s, the castle and park experienced their golden age with Babet, Maria Elisabetta Ferrero della Marmora, wife of Marquis Maurizio Massel and a woman of great personality and enterprise. Thanks to her, the boundaries of the garden were enlarged and the layout was redefined according to the romantic taste of the time, creating the park of over six hectares that still surrounds the castle today. The round tower, the citroniera and the surrounding wall were built.
In 1866, on the occasion of the marriage of Babet's niece, Teresa Massel, to Luigi Cacherano di Bricherasio, the Castle was renovated and decorated in neo-Gothic style. From the union of Teresa and Luigi, Sofia and Emanuele were born: the latter, who died prematurely in 1904 in mysterious circumstances, was one of the founding partners of FIAT and a major shareholder. Sofia, the last descendant of the family, was a pupil of the painter Lorenzo Delleani, a regular guest at the cultural coterie that had sprung up in Miradolo. The famous Cavalry Captain Federico Caprilli had been a regular visitor to the castle since the years when he trained at the Cavalry Military School in Pinerolo, together with his friend Emanuele Cacherano of Bricherasio.
The park now contains five monumental trees, exotic tree species, a giant bamboo forest as well as a widespread camellia grove, magnolias and a collection of historical hydrangeas.