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Barolo
La Volta Castle

Right next to the farmstead stands the La Volta castle, former residence of the Marquis Falletti, whose walls enclose numerous legends still preserved by popular tradition.

The castle was built in the XI century by Manfredo di Saluzzo, descendent of Bonifacio del Vasto. Before Alba took possession of it, it belonged to the De Braida family, the feudal lords of Barolo and lastly, to the family of the Marquis Falletti.

The last entry in the book of its history dates back to the XIX century, when it was restored as a noble residence and then transformed by the last Marquise Falletti as a place to enjoy some peace of mind in the company of Silvio Pellico.

With the Falletti dynasty over, the castle entered into a period of decay – suffering further damage in 1944, caused by German fire in occasion of World War II. It remains abandoned up to the present time. Stage of many legendary events, several ownership transfers and demolition attempts, its history is a complicated one.

Among the legends surrounding the castle, the most famous one tells that in the early XIV century, during a party in honour of the local lords, the guests engaged in such rampant, excessive lust that God decided to punish them. And so he made the ceiling collapse over them, burying all the participants. When the debris were removed, no traces of them were found.

Another legend claims that Satan is the ruler of the castle: it is said that it was the Devil the one who, in his desire to take the souls of those sinners, made the ceiling fall over them. And in order to keep rescuers away from the room, he raised a wall so high and thick no one succeeded in tearing it down. Since that day, the castle is also known -in the popular imagination- as the abode of the Devil, and in the nights of fullmoon some people swear they see some mysterious shadows walking inside its silent walls. It also seems that in these nights the souls of the victims of the ceiling incident gather, and some people claim they have seen many shadows gathering at the seen to attend Mass, celebrated by an old friar by the light of the candles. Once the religious service is over, the candles are turned off and everything vanishes into thin air. Even the tower of the castle holds a mystery: it is entirely closed and no one has ever found an entry. It is completely walled from the ground floor, and below the entrance hall some signs of an attempt to open a hole are visible.

Mysterious and fascinating, the castle holds many secrets, many legends. Many stories of ghosts looking forward to its final rest, of spirits and wandering souls are told… and there are those who say that on stormy nights, when the lightning pierce the darkness, you can hear moaning and screaming noises and see some strange flames roaming through the castle halls.

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Cabutto Tenuta La Volta

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Via S.Pietro 13 - 12060 Barolo (CN)