Journey through time in Arignano, the Middle Ages relive at the Rocca

The Middle Ages relive at the Rocca di Arignano, a small village twenty minutes from Turin. In the halls of the castle, besieged by Federico Barbarossa and abandoned for a thousand years, banquets and dances return. Luca Veronelli, manager whose ancestors are the oenologist Luigi Veronelli and his wife Elsa Panini, biologist and passionate about cooking, under the supervision of the Archaeological Superintendence of Piedmont, have restored the castle while keeping the medieval spirit intact. The construction site, which lasted two and a half years, made it possible to return a disused property of great historical value to the community, bringing to light the walls of the first settlement and the prisons. Today there are guided tours, in a medieval kitchen you learn ancient recipes, you eat in the Inn, you walk in the garden where sensory herbs are grown, parties are organized,weddings and congresses. Under the imposing cedar of the Himalayas you can hear the legend of the ghost of the lady and that of the alchemist Cagliostro who perhaps here discovered the formula to make that philosopher's stone capable of transforming any metal into gold and hidden it in a maze of underground tunnels. The Rocca has remained dormant since 1400. All six levels are now connected through the helical staircase that reaches the panoramic terrace and allows access to the top of the only tower still visible. Historical culture and gastronomic culture coexist: the restaurant is made with the products of the garden, the wine comes from the cellars of the area. It is not a museum, but at the entrance, where an exhibition will be set up to tell what the fortress was like before it was restored, thework 'Soglia: to Eduardo Chillidà' by the sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro.