In this route you will have the chance to discover what remains of the ancient medieval Rivarolo. Originally it was a “castrum”, the ruins defended the village and some Romanesque and Gothic architectural structures that have recently been renovated. You can visit the city every Saturday with our guides; reservation is required at least two days before the tour that is free and lasts about an hour.

This tour includes a visit to the baroque and neoclassical churchesbuilt in Rivarolo from the beginning of the 17th century to the end of the 18th century, focusing on the differences between the Baroqueand Neoclassical style, The itinerary also includes historical notes of the eighteenth-century Rivarolo.
You can visit the city every Saturday with our guides; reservation is required at least two days before the tour that is free and lasts about an hour.

Interesting monuments (medieval tour)

Public library
Made up of a river stone, it has late medieval elements. Originally it was a public building. In the 18th century it becames a theatre, then a cinema and finally a library.

The St. Jack's bell tower
It is the opinion of the critics that it was built not as a bell tower but as the first civic tower of the ancient medieval village. The Building has some Gothic and Romanic elements.

Malgrà castle
A possession of the Earls of San Martin, it underwent a series of enlargements in the XV and in the XVIII centuries and it was completely restored at the end of the XIX century by the two architects D’Andrade and Nigra. In the portico of the inner courtyard frescos of the XV century can be admired.

Castellazzo tower
In the dispute among the various noble families of Rivarolo, it remained a common possession of the Earls of Valperga and the ones of San Martino; it was already mentioned in a document of 1142. Of the original construction, however only the tower has been retained.After being reduced to ruin, in the middle of the XIX century it was transformed into a luxury villa by the architect Formento.

Church and convent of St. Francis
Founded in the XIII century, it was altered in the following centuries ; it preserves valuable frescos, such as “The Adoration of the Child” by M.Spanzotti (XV century). Outside there are rests of the gothic cloister.

Walls
It was built in 1357 by Amedeo VI of Savoia,the ruins were part of the quadrangular walls that defended the castrum. The visible remains consist of river pebbles stuck in oblique rows and inclined in the opposite direction forming the typical                  "fishbone" joint.

Parish church of St. Michael archangel
It is very ancient and its first news precedes the year 1000. It now shows the splendid baroque form it was given by B. Vittone (1759); it has an octagonal plan with a trilobite apse and an elliptical sacristy,decorated with valuable stuccoes and marbles.

Church of the Brotherhood of Jesus' holy name
It has a valuable wooden portal with f gures of angels: the inside of the church reveals all its delicate elegance due to architect P.Boncicini, from Lugano, and to the painters C.F Bianchi and V.A.Rapous.

Parish Church of St. James apostole
It was built in the XV century but it was altered by C.Michela in XVIII century; worthy of note are the baroque façade and the gothic belltower with two storeys of mullioned windows

Church of the Brotherhood of St. Rocco and St. Charles
It was built in 1754 . The unique aisle inside was decorated in the rococo flamboyant style by G.D Molinari, who was also the author of the beautiful oval painting of the apse dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven

Toesca's House
Toesca's House is an eighteenth-century palace with a sober neoclassical façade.Inside the rooms still preserve the crescoed ceiling and the origianal structure of the noble villas. Today it is a private residence.

Litisetto square
The square was originally the internal garden of Palazzo Lomellini,today it is the municipal seat. In the second half of the nineteenthcentury it was built the elegant portico in brick and the square became the seat of the grain market, at the beginning of the 20thcentury replaced with the chicken market and then with the buttermarket, which was sold until the 1970s. Today the square is still known with the Piedmontese name of "piasa del buro".

Lomellini Palace
The palace, was originally private, today is the town hall since 1838, when the owner family gave it to the municipality. the party room is entirely frescoed with floral decorations, fake balusttrades and imitations of upholstery,it becomes the Council Chamber.

Farina Palace
The building is still a Maurizio Farina’s private residence. The interior rooms are decorated and furnished in 18th century style and the party room has a Venetian mosaic floor.