Castello di Montaldeo

via Ambrogio Doria, 4 - 15060 Montaldeo (AL)
Tel. +39 0143 849113
Tel. +39 0143 849121
E-mail: info@altomonferrato.it
E-mail: ila.doria@hotmail.it

Montaldeo, from the middle of the 10th century until the end of the 12th century, belonged to the San Marziano Abbey of Tortona, included in marca obertenga, and was under the jurisdiction of Gavi. The Genoese attacked and razed the castle to the ground during their long war against Alessandria. Montaldeo eventually passed to the Marquises of Monferrato and then back to the people of Alessandria who rebuilt the castle in 1271. It then passed under the control of the Sforza and the Trotti before being sold to the Grimaldi and then finally to the Doria, the current owners. The castle built in the 13th century on the earlier fortifications was destroyed and then rebuilt around the middle of the 15th century under the Trotti family, after which it underwent innumerable alterations before being converted into a gentleman’s residence in the 17th century. It now has the appearance of a massive parallelepiped block on two floors topped with a jutting structure. In certain regions, such as the Valle d’Aosta, the single-body type is typical of a fortified manor house, but in northern and central Piedmont there are rare examples of it. This type returns in a mature form to the southern borders, in the castles of the Genoese families.