Historic Houses of the Nobility in Piedmont. Case Antiche della Nobiltà in Piemonte

Historic residences and their families have been widely documented, therefore the phenomenon of historic houses and castles can be studied from many viewpoints, for the buildings and their past have left deep marks on social history. The Associazione Dimore Storiche Italiane (the Italian Historic Houses Association) includes the specific objective to commission research that might preserve the legacy of these houses, estimated to be some 50,000 sites of historical and artistic in Italy alone.
Reflection on historic residences and castles consequently leads to a discourse on the aristocracy, for every Piedmontese house included in this book was originally built to be lived in by the nobility, and all conserve this peculiarity. Contrary to what occurred to the aristocratic town houses, the majority of which have changed hands, country houses have tended to remain within the family of the original owners, be it occasionally through the female line.
Due to their long-standing connections with the surrounding land, the aristocracy favoured their country seats, linked as they were to the traditions and power of the nobility, and as such came to be seen by their descendants as a tangible testimony to family history. The repertoire of residences displayed in this volume bear witness to a number of common values in European culture spanning several centuries, for these properties were a way of expressing an identity and a distinction from society, favouring hierarchy rather than equality.