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The Institute of Alpine Photography, dedicated to Vittorio Sella – a great mountaineer and explorer who had established a photographic laboratory right there – is in the old stables of Villa Serra, the former San Gerolamo Monastery, in the northern area of Biella. Today, it’s a museum and it belongs to the Sella Foundation.

The old monastery, with an adjoining church consecrated to San Gerolamo, was built by Benedetto Giovanni Gromo in the XVI century; in 1864, it was bought together with the hill where it was built by the Sella family and turned into a residence, surrounded by a large park.

The villa still features the beautiful two-tiered cloister, formerly part of the monastery. The church preserves some precious XVI century frescoes depicting, for instance, some musician angels, Beato Angelico praying, Saint Sebastian, Saint John, and Saint Stephen, all painted by artists from Bernardino Luini’s school. It also houses a wooden choir, recognized as one of the best inlay works in Piedmont, made by Evangelista da Cremona.

The Alpine Photography museum contains the original printing workshop, with an antique solar enlarger, and vintage photographs as well as old cameras and mountaineering equipment.

The well-kept park covers an area of about 10 acres; it retains the original XIX century layout, with several valuable plants, many of which are listed among the monumental trees of Piedmont.

The whole complex is now home to the A.S.L (the Local Health Authority) of Biella.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)