The Castello di Piovera stands in the rural town of Piovera and dominates the small square with its imposing facade. Surrounded by a vast 30-hectare park, the complex is completely open to visitors, furnished from the cellars to the towers. In addition to the guided tours between the various routes, at the castle it is possible to organize events and events of all kinds, from concerts to art exhibitions, conferences to weddings, always surrounded by the fabulous atmospheres of a period home.
Castello di Piovera History
The Castello di Piovera was born as a fortress for the defense of the territory in the fourteenth century. on previous Roman, Lombard and Carolingian camps (Castrum Pioperae) and on the remains of a convent, probably Templar; remodeled in the 16th century and in the late Baroque period with interventions that however did not affect its original structure.
Among the rare lowland castles, it stands as a post in a prodigal land because it is blessed by the confluence of many streams of water, in a privileged position, for the passage of the rich merchants on the famous "Via del Sale" and the pilgrims who traveled along the Via Francigena from Rome to Paris.
Passed unscathed under numerous dominations, from the Visconti of Milan, lords of the territory in 1300, who ordered its construction, to the Mandelli, then to the Sforza, to the Gallarati, it returned to the Visconti.
From 1500 the property passed to Colonel Don Alvaro De Sandez, inaugurating with this donation the marquis title. Then to Don Carlo Omodeo and his son to the Genoese nobleman Francesco Maria Balbi who obtained his investiture as the last feudal lord from Amedeo III of Savoy in 1651.
The Marquis Balbi maintained possession of the vast agricultural territory and the castle until the twentieth century. doing extensive renovations that transformed the mighty fourteenth-century fortress into a stately home giving the whole a romantic aspect.
The last heirs, the nobles D'Oria and Odescalchi ceded it to the current owner, their cousin, Count Niccolò Calvi di Bergolo in the late 1960s.
The latter created inside the castle and in the garden suggestive and interesting historical-artistic routes open to the public which he accompanies with his charismatic presence.