The Savoy Castles (Casa Savoia)

Castello Racconigi

The House of Savoy (Casa Savoia) grew from a small noble, family in the 11th century, with land holdings west and north of Torino (Savoy region), to rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II. The dynasty relocated its residence in the late 15th century to Torino where it remained until the unification of Italy. It is around Torino that the Savoy refurbished old castelli and constructed new ones, described as “delizie e capricci”.

In 2002 on a previous trip, we were in Torino and were able to visit the Palazzo Reale and Palazzo Madama. During this trip we saw three more Savoy residences, two intimately and one from outside. The first we saw on this trip was Castello Racconigi. While we were staying in Mondovì, we took a trip to see Racconigi. We were the only ones on the last tour of the day. Unfortunately the gardens were closed which would have been wonderful to see. (The downside of off-season travel.) Inside there was a lot to see, historical features of the castle mixed with contemporary installations. A very nice guide, Nanni, answered all our questions as he showed us around and listened to our bad Italian!

As we made our way from Mondovì to Pontboset in the Valle d’Aosta, we stopped at the Palazzina di caccia di Stupinigi but it was closed for restoration. So, we saw it only from the outside. Luckily, we just had to go a few more minutes north to reach the Castello di Rivoli. Rivoli is fun because of the outstanding contemporary art museum that is located inside the old residence, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea del Castello di Rivoli, and the strange unfinished bits of the structures that make up the complex. Castello di Rivoli is a great place to spend a half a day or more.

We must also mention the Savoy residence, Castello di Govone, not because we visited it, but we drank an interesting 1971 Nebbiolo d’Alba, Castello di Govone recently that was given to us by relatives in Piemonte. It was delicious and as we made handy work of the bottle (back in Seattle) we were wishing we were back in Piemonte!

Palazzina di caccia di Stupinigi - In Restoration


Palazzina di caccia di Stupinigi - Details


Castello Rivoli - View Into Twilight


Castello Rivoli - Castle Structure




Castello Racconigi - Art Installation, Antlers


Castello Govone Nebbiolo Wine

Cherasco – Good Chocolate and Good Food

Portici of Cherasco


Every time we come to Piemonte we stop in Cherasco for part of a day and always have a good time. (One of our great grandfathers was born here.) The center is quite square and compact (map) and easy to get around on foot. The layout of the town sure feels like it was once a Roman city, castra or colonia.

Food-wise, we have eaten twice at La Lumaca (The Snail) and it has been excellent. This time we tried Osteria La Torre which was very, very, very good. The owners, two brothers - one managing the front and the other the kitchen – spent some time with us chatting and sharing some secrets for their bonet. This was a Slow Food suggested osteria.

In the past, we’ve always made the mandatory stop to Pasticceria Ravera and this time as well it did not disappoint. The owner (the wife of a husband/wife team we believe) actually remembers us and who was with us the last year we were in. Amazing. And we can’t resist the baci di Cherasco (kisses of Cherasco). But, how could we have missed also Pasticceria Barbero nearby, established in 1881 and the creators of the baci di Cherasco? Now, there is just one more reason to come to Cherasco.

So what are baci di Cherasco? The Barbero web site say that the baci were developed by the namesake of the Pasticceria, Marco Barbero, who in the late 1800s and with a characteristic Piemontese ingeniousness and thriftiness was inspired to make use of the irregular hazelnut fragments left over from the making of torrone (nougat) by enrobing them chocolate. This is our liberal translation of "...fù un'ingeniosa parsimonia tutta piemontese a ispirare Marco Barbero, fondatore della pasticceria omonima, quando pensò di riutilizzare gli irregolari frammenti di nocciola rimasti sul tagliere dopo la composizione dei tronchetti di torrone. Presi questi frammenti di nocciola, pensò di amalgamarli con del finissimo cioccolato fondente..." The baci are 60% cacao and delicious. The hazelnuts are toasted in a wood oven before they take the chocolate plunge.

View from Cherasco


Santuario della Madonna del Popolo



Pasticceria Ravera


Pasticceria Barbero




Osteria La Torre Business Card


Start of Lunch at Osteria La Torre with Grissini

Mespilus germanica – Medlar Apple

Medlar Pomes Still on the Tree, Mondovì Italy


One thing that stood out to us during our time in Piemonte this time were the nespola trees (English: medlar apple) – Mespilus germanica. We never really noticed them before but in this visit we saw them quite a bit. Some families we visited picked and stored them and served them as an after dinner treat. Likely they picked them after a hard frost to mellow the fruit, a process called bletting. From Wikipedia: “Once softening begins the skin rapidly takes a wrinkled texture and turns dark brown, and the inside reduces to the consistency and flavour reminiscent of apple sauce.” While sounding tasty, the medlar presents a confusing dilemma: it looks like it’s rotten when it’s best to eat! In fact, throughout history, the symbolism of the medlar has been associated with the tawdry side of life: rotten things or affairs, destitution, prostitution and wanton ways. Poor fruit.

One half of Travelmarx savored the taste of the fruit. The preferred method of eating them seems to be to grab them by one end (the sepal-end?) and squeeze the pulp into your mouth.

The Medlar apple was first described by Theophratus (c. 371 – c. 287 BC) in his Enquiry Into Plants (περι φυτων ιστορια). In Latin, Theophrastus’s book became known as Historia Plantarum. A version of Enquiry into Plants can be downloaded for free at the Internet Archive here. It is a translation published in 1916 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

According to the Universal Dictionary of the English Language, the genus name derives from the Greek mespile, the name of the medlar tree, which became mespilus in Latin? The Italian name, nespola, we would guess is a “corruption” of the Latin.

Nespola (Medlar Apple) as Served to Us After Dinner, Ceva Italy


A Nespola Tree, Mondovì Italy

Grotta di Bossea

Grotta di Bossea Ursus spelaeus


Grotta di Bossea (Cave of the Bear) is a cave located south of Mondovì about 25 km (0.5 hours). From Mondovì you follow winding roads and pass through small towns to end up in the commune of Frabosa Soprana and from there just follow the signs to the Grotta (map location). We arrived for the 3pm tour and were the only ones on the tour.

The Grotta di Bossea is a river cave and karst cave. The volume of water moving through the cave is incredible. The itinerary takes you through narrow passages and large open spaces until you get to La Cascata, the waterfall at the farthest reach of the cave you can visit.

The cave was first opened to the public in 1874. A scientific research station has been functioning in the cave since 1964. Just when we thought we were alone with the tour guide, we suddenly we came upon the research station and the researchers busy about their work. It’s a working cave.

An Ursus spelaeus (cave bear) skeleton is on display in the main gathering area in the cave called the Salone dell’Orso. The species name refers to the fact that the fossils of the bears are typically found in caves. The skeleton, if we heard the guide correctly, is a composite of many bones found in the cave. The first bones were discovered in 1865 and it is probable that the bones making up the skeleton are from bears that died during hibernation.

The tour of the Grotta di Bossea was more satisfying than the tour of the Grotte di Castellana a few weeks earlier in Puglia. At Bossea, there was just two on the tour with a guide. So it was a much more personalized experience. Beyond that, the guide at Bossea provided more hard information about the nature of the cave, how it was formed, how it’s changing, and what will likely happen in the future. At Castellana, by contrast, there was little hard information given on the tour about the cave. Another cool thing about Grotta di Bossea is that they have art work installed at various places in the cave. Most of the art work is as you walk into the cave.

Grotta di Bossea Salone dell'Orso


Grotta di Bossea Formations


Grotto di Bossea Brochure




Grotta di Bossea La Cascata


Grotto di Bossea Concert Area

Mondovì Sundials (Meridiane e Elementi di Gnomonica)

Two Sundials in Mondovì, Piemonte


“La città di Mondovì è ricca di meridiane. Se ne contano 20 complessi in città circa 10 nelle immediate vicinanze.” This is the description on a plaque on the Torre dei Bressano in the Giardino del Belvedere in Mondovì Piazza (upper Mondovì). The sign indiates that Mondovì is rich with sundials. You can find 20 elaborate ones in the city and 10 in the immediate vicinity of the tower. In this post we describe six sundials that we saw. (Hopefully we describe them correctly. We knew nothing about sundials before trying to figure out what we were seeing here in Mondovì!)

Some of the sundials around Mondovì according a sign in the Giardino del Belvedere (pictured here) are:
- Ore Canoniche
- Ore Italiche da Campanile (pictured included)
- Ore Francesi (pictured included)
- Linea Meridiana (pictured included)
- Linee Diurne
- Curva Lemniscata (pictured included)
- Ore Bablioniche

Sundial 1: The first sundial shown here is with Ore Francesi (French Hours) which was an early name for the equal hour system with two 12 hours days that began at midday and midnight. The face of building that this sundial is on faces southwest (azimuth 140 degrees). The photo was taken around 12:30pm. The building is on via della Meridiana.

Sundial 2: The second sundial shown here is the Linea Meridiana (Meridian Line) is on the same building face as the the first sundial. The second sundial provides the local time around noon, often called a Noon Sundial.

Sundial 3: The third sundial shown here is in the same piazza (Piazza San Pietro) as the first two but on a building that faces southeast (azimuth 15 degrees) and shows ore italiche (Italian hours). This sundial shows the number of hours elapsed since the most recent sunset. For more on the terminology used in sundials, check out this informative page.

Sundial 4: The fourth sundial is in Mondovì Piazza, on the Piazza Maggiore, Palazo del Governatore building where there is a large sundial (ore europee con lemniscata sulla linea del mezzogiorno) for indicating hours of the day and noon (noon sundial). This sundial faces southeast (azimuth 30 degrees).

Sundial 5: The fifth sundial shown here is on the Torre dei Bressano. It is a sundial facing southeast (azimuth 85 degrees) with equal hours and equinox lines. The winter solstice line is concave facing up, the equinoxes are the straight line, and the summer solstice line is the concave facing down. For more on what the azimuth means see this primer on azimuth lines.

Sundial 6: The sixth sundial shown here is in the in the Giardino del Belvedere and it is a horizonal sundial. And finally, the seventh sundial is an equatorial sundial adjacent to the Torre.

(The numbering for the pictures shown below refers to the number of the sundial as it was discussed above. The sundials in and around Mondovì do not follow this numbering.)

Sundial 1 on Via Meridiana - Equal Hours Sundial


Sundial 2 on Via Meridiana - Noon Sundial (On the Right)


Piazza San Pietro, Mondovì


Sundial 3 in Piazza San Pietro, Mondovì - Hours Since Last Sunset


Sundial(s) 4 in Piazza Maggiore, Mondovì


Sundial 5 on Torre dei Bressano (Torre Civica), Mondovì


Sundial 6 in Giardino del Belvedere. Mondovì


Sundial 7 - An Equatorial Sundial - Giardino del Belvedere, Mondovì


Sundial Informational, Giardino del Belvedere, Mondovì

For more examples of sundials in Mondovì and Piemonte, see Selected Sundials (Meridane) of Southwest Piedmont (Piemonte).

Torre dei Bressano (Torre Civica), Mondovì

Two Clock Faces of Torre dei Bressano

In the Giardino del Belvedere in Breo Mondovì stands the Torre dei Bressano with its huge clocks all sides. Location. The tower is quite visible from a distance and really is the symbol of the town at 30 meters (98 feet) tall and 559 meters (1,833 feet) above sea level. What’s interesting - and not apparent on first glance - is that the open area around the tower was once the church of St. Andrea and the tower was the bell tower of the church. The church was destroyed in the early 1800's and the current park began to take shape around the tower. The name of the tower comes from the Bressano family, a powerful family in Mondovì.

Views of Torre dei Bressano



Giardino del Belvedere


Torre dei Bressano Information



View of Mondovì from the Northeast


Views from the Belvedere



Views from Cascina Bringin Toward Mondovì



Monviso or Monte Viso Early and Mid-Morning