Masino Castle
The Castello di Masino has stood for over a thousand years on a hill of the Serra di Ivrea, at Caravino, in the Canavese; for more than nine centuries it belonged to the Valperga counts, who claimed descent from Arduin of Ivrea, king of Italy in 1002, and since 1988 it has belonged to the FAI.[1][2]
The Valperga
The Valperga transformed the castle from a fortified stronghold into an aristocratic residence and holiday retreat; the high walls and towers were torn down to make way for gardens.[1][3] Count Carlo Francesco II Valperga di Masino, born at the castle around 1655 and died in Milan in 1715, first equerry to the duke and colonel of the Swiss Guard, commissioned the Salone dei Savoia: genealogical frescoes with 147 coats of arms and views of 22 Savoyard cities taken from the Theatrum Sabaudiae.[4][5] At the end of the eighteenth century, in the years of the French Revolution, the frescoes were covered with whitewash to hide the Savoyard images; restored starting in 2019, they became visible again in 2022.[5]
The FAI
After the death of the last marchioness in 1987, the FAI purchased the castle in 1988 for 2.5 billion lire, less than the value of the furnishings alone, thanks to a donation from Giulia Maria Crespi and contributions from FIAT and the Cassa di Risparmio di Torino.[1][2] Along with the castle, the FAI acquired more than five thousand furnishings, a library of over 25,000 volumes and the family archive, which preserves a document signed by King Arduin; over thirty years the foundation has spent more than seventeen million euros on restoration work.[2][1]
The Park
The park, restored by Paolo Pejrone, has Italian- and French-style gardens as well as a romantic English-style park; the maze, rebuilt from an eighteenth-century design found in the archive, is the second largest in Italy.[2][1][3] The eighteenth-century stables house the carriage museum, and the FAI has restored about one and a half hectares of vineyard, cultivated by the Valperga family until 1972.[3][6]
Related articles: Canavese
Sources
- FAI - Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano
- FAI - Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano — 12 January 2026
- La Voce del Canavese
- Treccani, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani —
- FAI - Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano — 21 June 2022
- FAI - Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano — 20 February 2018