Castle of Verrone

The Castle of Verrone is a complex of buildings of medieval origin in the Biella area located in the municipality of the same name of Verrone.

There are two hypotheses regarding the origin of the toponym: according to the first, it derives from the Latin Vetus (old), while the second traces it back to the Celtic term Uer (superior, which is above).

The events of the castle were for a long time linked to those of a Biellese branch of the noble Vialardi family, of Ghibelline faith, which held the feudal rights over the village of Verrone for a long time.

After having opposed the Guelph alliance led in this area by the Avogadro family, on 19 February 1373 Simone Vialardi submitted with the dominion of Verrone to Amedeo VI of Savoy and obtained favorable economic conditions and ample administrative autonomy for his own domains.

The Vialardis thus remained lords of the area for centuries because the Savoys later punctually confirmed the privileges granted to their lineage.

This almost unchallenged domain lasted in practice until the 19th century and ended when in 1835 a famous botanist, Maurizio Zumaglini, bought the castle from the counts Amedeo and Augusto Vialardi.

Zumaglini lived for a long time in the castle where he wrote his Flora pedemontana, a monumental work in Latin which lists the plant species of Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta.

Before becoming a municipal one, the castle also belonged to the noble Cornetto Bourlot family, originally from the Biella area, whose last descendant is Giuseppe Cornetto Bourlot.

It is now the Falseum - Museum of Falsehood and Deception.

Map: Castle of Verrone