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The Castello dei Solaro is located in Villanova Solaro, in the province of Cuneo, about 40 km from Turin. It once served as a crucial fortress between the territories of the Princes of Acaja and the Marquisate of Saluzzo, in conflict from 1259 until the Treaty of Lyon in 1601.
Over time, the castle has been a summer residence, a hospital, a school, and today, it mainly hosts weddings and events.
First mentioned in 1259 as 'Castrum Villanove,' the castle was rebuilt in 1295 by Philip of Savoy, Prince of Acaja. It had a square layout with four corner towers and a large moat built in 1327 with the help of the House of Savoy.
Throughout the 14th century, the castle changed hands several times amid local conflicts. In 1362, it was sold to the noble Solaro family from Asti, whose name the village still bears today.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, the castle played a role in wars between Savoy and Saluzzo. During the gunpowder era, Bartolomeo Solaro modified the structure, removing the moat and lowering the main tower.
By the 17th century, after the Treaty of Lyon, the castle lost its military importance and became a noble residence. Countess Eufrasia Solaro, the last of her line, redesigned parts of it, adding a park and demolishing two of the original four towers.
In 1831, patriot Silvio Pellico stayed at the castle and read parts of his famous memoir Le mie prigioni.
Later, the Vitale family transformed the castle into a hospital (opened in 1908) for the poor until its closure in 1927. It then became a public building, hosting a school and community events until 1985.
In 1995, the Ronco family acquired and restored the property, opening it as a restaurant and wedding venue by 1997.
Today, only two of the original towers remain. The entrance once had a drawbridge, now replaced by a stone bridge. The main courtyard ('Corte degli Acaja') and several historic halls, including the Sala Filippo d'Acaja and the Silvio Pellico Rooms, are preserved, featuring frescoes and coffered ceilings.
The 15,000 m² park, originally larger, was redesigned following Countess Eufrasia’s 19th-century plans. It includes a lime tree avenue, a small pond, and statues representing the four seasons, added during the 1995 restoration.
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.