What's a lord to do...

So, you've got 14 castles and 50 estates littering Piedmonte, so what's next? Another castle of course! This one was added in 1340 (that is no typo...). The spot is Serralunga d'Alba, a top a large hill so that you can send signals to your other castles, all clearly visible on the surrounding hilltops. This one was designed as the last defense for the Falletti family, and evidently it served it's purpose as none of the various potential conquerers ever made it into the castle.

The main entrance, from above. The planks pull up and iron bars drop down into the door way. This was behind the first doors which were barricaded with a 6x6 sliding latch.


That is San Francesco on the right. The fresco looked new but was hundreds of years old:

The family seal, etched into the wall:

And here are some pics from Bossolasco, where we explored a church, the views, and the Foosball table in the piazza.




Each house along the Via Roma had a little plaque with a bird, presumably local. This one was the cutest.