Piedmont castle property, on top of a hill in Monferrato, in a dominating position above a beautiful medieval town, this castle with a surface area of over 5,000 sqm is ideal to start a luxury boutique hotel. The project has already been approved to increase the number of bedrooms to 23. It is also possible to further expand the building with another 16 bedrooms. The property is completed by a frescoed church, the old convent, land and gardens and a 12 x 6 m swimming pool.

Piedmont Castle Luxury boutique hotel project.

Located on top of a hill overlooking the underlying medieval hamlet, with a wonderful view over the surrounding hills of Monferrato, is this beautiful 15th-century castle with frescoed church.
The property is easily reached and is provided with all the necessary services by the hamlet (quickly reachable even on foot). From here one can also visit many towns and cities of Northern Italy, all of them reachable in less than two hours by car: Asti (26km; 30’), Casale Monferrato (38km; 40’), Alba with its renowned white truffle (57km; 50’), Alessandria (60km; 50’), the beautiful Turin (61km; 1h 5’), Ivrea (62km; 1h 5’), Barolo which gave its name to the famous wine (69km; 55’), Acqui Terme (69km; 1h 10’), Pavia with its many monuments, heritage of a glorious past (132km; 1h 35’), the maritime republic of Genoa (142km; 1h 45’) and the metropolis of Milan (145km; 1h 50’).
The most convenient airports to reach the property are Torino Pertini (62km; 50’), Genova Colombo (132km; 1h 30’), Milano Malpensa (138km; 1h 30’), Milano Linate (158km; 1h 45’), Bergamo Caravaggio (186km; 2h) and Bologna Marconi (296km; 3h).

The castle (5.450 sqm – 58,642 sqft, up to 23 bedrooms) houses in the central portion a residential area made of twelve large reception halls plus nine suite/apartments for the guests, the warden’s apartment and large halls in the southern wing which could be used as restaurant, breakfast rooms or event halls. On the north-eastern side fourteen new apartments for the guests are currently being built (each with independent access). The project also includes the realization of a fitness area in the basement of the castle.
Outside, the castle has two large terraces (over 300 sqm – 3,228 sqft) which offer a unique view over the underlying town.

Detached from the castle are the old rectory (ten rooms for a total of approximately 350 sqm – 3,766 sqft) and the church (100 sqm – 1,076 sqft).

In the northern part of the castle, there is a building plot which would allow creating other buildings (for a total of 1,750 cu.m) to further increase the number of bedrooms by another fifteen units (apartments/suites).

The castle was originally built in the early Middle Ages and since 1164 the fortress, together with its hamlet, was the theatre of violent fights between Asti and the nearby Marquisate of Monferrato. At the beginning of the 14th century, the castle and the hamlet were entirely demolished and not rebuilt until the next century.
When rebuilding it was decided to go on with a simple defensive keep but over the years the building was expanded and ended up embedding a series of other buildings (still visible to an attentive eye) previously built by the local noblemen, whose family gathered up to form a consortium in the attempt of gaining a better political influence in the country.
In the 18th century, the castle underwent a huge process of renovation and rebuilding which led to the realization of the elegant halls we can see nowadays.
The building now is an irregular L shape, but it is clear that this is only part of the original building which had a U shape to increase its defensibility. The second wing of the castle doesn’t exist anymore but its existence is confirmed by the conformation of the garden (slightly raised in this point) and the walls supporting the side of the hill. What’s more, many holes on the side of the hills allow entering several underground rooms which were once the basement of the demolished wing.
The castle is nowadays mostly in good conditions, with restorations carried out to preserve and highlight the decorations. The halls are all frescoed and/or painted with floral motives recalling the grotesque found in Nero’s Domus Aurea. The basement has been partially restored leaving stone walls visible so to underline the medieval origin of the building.
Not far from the castle is a beautiful church with frescoes dated to the mid-14th century. Apparently uninteresting when looked upon from outside, the church offers unique frescoes. With a rectangular shape, the building has only two small windows in the apsis while the arch on the right wall, now closed by a glass window, would point to an ancient linking between the church and the castle, no longer existing. The entrance door is probably an after-thought which however irreparably damaged the frescoes inside the church.
The paintings represent the whole life of Jesus, starting with the Annunciation and ending with the Noli me tangere featuring Mary Magdalene. The conditions of the frescoes are however pretty bad because of a layer of plaster which was put over the paintings during the 17th-century plague epidemics which struck Piedmont (the same epidemics found in Manzoni’s I Promessi Sposi): the surfaces were scraped and hammered to favour plaster sticking, severely damaging the paintings underneath. The images have only resurfaced in the 1930s.

The castle has a well-maintained Italian garden located where the other wing of the castle, now demolished, once stood. The garden has a small hedge maze in the centre of which are located three shrines housing statues of the Virgin with the baby on the left, the Christ Savior at the centre and a Pope on the right.
The entire property is crossed underground by galleries and tunnels which were in the past used as wells and cisterns to supply water to the inhabitants of the castle.

The castle which is located in a truly unique position is a real historic jewel. The large size of the building, the large number of bedrooms and the possibility of expanding the structure, make the property extremely suitable for conversion into a unique luxury boutique hotel.

• TYPE Medieval Piedmont castle with church and pool with a hotel project
• CONDITION Partially restored
• LOCATION Hilly, panoramic
• MUNICIPALITY Asti
• PROVINCE Asti
• REGION Piedmont
• SIZE 5,900 sqm
• ROOMS 100+
• BEDROOMS 23+ (up to 38+)
• BATHROOMS 23+ (up to 38+)
• FEATURES Stone walls, underground tunnels, Italian garden, panoramic terraces, frescoed halls, rib vaults, barrel vaults, swimming pool, tower, fireplaces, terracotta floor, wooden beams, coffered ceilings, frescoed church
• LAND 18,700 square meters (4.6 acres)
• GARDEN Yes, well-maintained
• ANNEX Former convent, church
• ACCESS Excellent
• POOL 12 × 6 m
• ELECTRICITY Already connected
• WATER Mains water + wells
• GAS Municipal network
• HEATING Thermoconvectors
• TELEPHONE Already connected
• NEAREST TOWNS Asti (26km; 30’), Casale Monferrato (38km; 40’), Alba (57km; 50’), Alessandria (60km; 50’), Turin (61km; 1h 5’), Ivrea (62km; 1h 5’), Barolo (69km; 55’), Acqui Terme (69km; 1h 10’), Pavia (132km; 1h 35’), Genoa (142km; 1h 45’), Milan (145km; 1h 50’)
• NEAREST AIRPORTS Torino Pertini (62km; 50’), Genova Colombo (132km; 1h 30’), Milano Malpensa (138km; 1h 30’), Milano Linate (158km; 1h 45’), Bergamo Caravaggio (186km; 2h), Bologna Marconi (296km; 3h)

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