This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)

Masino Castle, in Caravina (province of Ivrea), has very ancient origins. It was built as a stronghold protecting the territory among Ivrea, Vercelli, the Aosta Valley and the plain towards Turin by the ancient and noble Valperga di Masino family, who lived there for 10 centuries, until 1987.
Descendants of Arduino d’Ivrea, the first king of Italy, the Counts of Masino took part in the political life of many European courts and, above all, worked for the Royal House of Savoy as advisors and high officials of the Dukes Ludovico di Savoia and Emanuele Filiberto, as well as king Vittorio Amedeo II and Vittorio Amedeo III.
In 1987, on the death of the Marquise Vittoria Leumann, the wife of Cesare Valperga di Masino, the castle was declared of high historical and artistic interest by the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and acquired by the FAI – the National Trust of Italy.

The original structure had a square plan with corner towers but was demolished in the mid-XVI century and rebuilt during the following one. The walkways and the ancient masonry still exist today, in the inner courtyard. The XVII and XVIII century halls of the new residence feature beautiful frescoes and refined furnishings, some of which in neoclassical style. The apartment of “Madama Reale” is embellished with refined fabrics and houses a four-poster bed. In the nearby “Palazzo delle Carrozze”, there is a rich collection of carriages from 1700-1800.

The park

The castle is surrounded by several acres of a park which, over the centuries, has undergone several transformations. In the XVIII century, it must have had a regular design, inspired by Renaissance style with French embellishments.

On the east terrace, located between the Round Tower and the Tower of the Winds, at the foot of the bastion, there’s the Cypress Garden which retains the geometric layout of an Italian garden. The labyrinth is also still there, reported in the official plans since 1753: it’s the second-largest in Italy* and it is made of hedges obtained with 1400 hornbeams.

In 1800, the park was renovated following the new English landscape style: with large grassy expanses, wooded areas and a large avenue of lime trees leading to the central clearing were thus added; in 1840-1847 the “Strada dei ventidue giri” was built, which connects the noble residence to the town of Strambino with 22 hairpin bends.

Since 1988, many other works have been carried out, some of which entrusted to the architect Paolo Pejrone, including the planting of 110.000 narcissi, and 7.000 plants of Vanhoutte spirea arranged along a path called the “Garden of Clouds”.
In more recent times, a large labyrinth has been built with 1.400 hornbeams, on a discarded project dating back to 1700.

In spring (the first weekend of May) and autumn (at the beginning of October), Masino Castle Park hosts the highly-acclaimed “Tre Giorni per il Giardino” (“Three days for the garden”), an important horticultural showcase-market organized by the FAI, promoting high-quality products. The spring edition was the first event of this kind organized in Italy, in 1991.

* The largest labyrinth in Italy, as well as in many other countries, is that of Masone, entirely made with bamboo trees in the countryside around Parma.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)