Castle of medieval origin.
It is characterized by the presence of five towers used for defense and as ancient prisons.
The interior space consists of two buildings including a noble chapel, open to the public twice a year to celebrate mass.
The castle is inhabited by several co-owners families.
• Availability: private property | not open to visitors.
The castle of Castelletto Molina, is of medieval origin and is surrounded by imposing walls of walls, in ancient times even higher and with Ghibelline battlements.
From the walls there are still five towers: the main “tower” with a round base and cut off at the top; the “tower of the prisoners” which is composed of a base with a pronounced shoe and a cylindrical body culminating with a roof covering a Ghibelline battlements.
Inside, in addition to the basement with a floor and two trapdoor access, there are three floors. Some loopholes of the third floor with strong splaying reveal the use, in the most recent period of life of the castle (XVII and XVIII century) of medium to short range firearms. The tower contained the ancient prisons and an underground dungeon.
Another tower is called “the watchtower” and is quadrangular; the “tower of the Belvedere” also with a square base and forming an advanced body, and finally the “lookout tower” projecting from a spur of the walls.
The towers preserve the original battlements and present numerous loopholes and openings of offense and defense. They were covered with roofs in the sixteenth century.
The castle of Castelletto Molina is reported in a 16th century fresco conventionally next to that of Riccaldone, both painted by the friar Ignazio Danti of Perugia (the fresco is in the Vatican Gallery called “delle Carte Geografiche” where they are painted on the walls and on the times tables of castles and churches in Italy).
Inside the complex there are two buildings: one called “il Palazzo”, probably rebuilt around 1670 by the countess Ottavia Thea Porta, and the other called the “Casa Rustica”.
The seventeenth-century building is composed of numerous halls including the entrance hall characterized by a remarkable wooden coffered ceiling and next to which is located a chapel of Gentilizia, with inside a fine painting by S. Francesco da Paola, and it is open to the public twice a year for the celebration of mass.
The rest of the castle is today inhabited by several co-owners families; some parts of it have been transformed into a country residence.
Editor's note: most of the information on the history and monuments of Castelletto Molina was drawn from the volume: <<Appunti storici su Castelletto Molina>> written by Gin Matteo Mecio published by Litografia Domenicane, Alba.
See also...
• Events in Castelletto Molina
• Castelletto Molina tourist guide
