Castelnuovo Calcea Castle

Highlights

Castle of medieval origin built for the first time in 1142.

Destroyed in 1154, it was subsequently rebuilt in its current position.

It was then again destroyed by the Savoiardi in 1635 and finally rebuilt at the end of the seventeenth century.

It has been a municipal property since 1987.

• Availability: can be visited by appointment for guided tours and during the Castelli Aperti review.

The ancient castle, of medieval origin, had a very tormented life.

Born in 1142 by the Counts of Loreto, under the French domination, it was erected on a hill not far from the current village, on the Roman road that linked Vinchio to Agliano; on this hill today stands a farmhouse called "Il Castello".

In 1154 presumably suffered a bloody siege by the Barbarossa, after which it was completely destroyed.

Rebuilt in its current position, that is on the highest relief of the territory, it became a refuge for the inhabitants of Asti and the Alessandria who had escaped the battles against the emperor.

In 1183 Castelnuovo passed under the town of Asti while in 1290 it became a fief of the Guttuari.

After a short lordship of the Marquis of Monferrato, it passed to the Visconti, inserted in the Duchy of Milan.

It was again destroyed in 1635 by Stefano Re and his Savoiardi; from here the village took the name of “Castelnuovo bruciato” (burnt).

Among the last feudal lords the Trotti, who, since 1645, endowed him with numerous works of art. The widest reconstruction of the castle occurred at the end of the seventeenth century, when the feudal lords rebuilt the towers and the dungeon and made numerous other renovations of the building.

From 1706 to 1735 the village was a French imperial fief, taking the name of “Castelnuovo delle Langhe”. In 1735 the castle passed under the House of Savoy, which then ceded it to the Trotti family, who held it until 1835.

Then transferred to the Beneck family, of Savoyard origin, who held it until 1939, as a consequence of the economic decline of the family, it too suffered a rapid decline. In those years it was used as a summer colony of the beam, after work, primary school and ballroom.

The building then underwent major collapses in 1945, in 1952 and in 1961. In 1962, it became the property of the Castelnovese Ferrero who started the demolition of the walls and assumed a complete disposal of the building.

Fortunately, in 1987 the Municipality bought it to try its recovery, since then the municipal coat of arms has impressed the image of a tower.

Of the original castle survive the entrance portal and the lookout tower, as well as numerous walls belonging to the ancient interior rooms.

On 25 April 2016 a lookout tower was inaugurated on the lookout tower in memory of Giuseppe Dagna, mayor of the village from 1985 to 2004.