The original Medieval villages of Guardabosone were built in a courtyard style. Small dwellings formed a cluster around a communal courtyard centre; there was a public well for water and areas were shared or divided up into small plots dedicated to various activities, like crafts, or farming and pastoral tasks. Viniculture is a typical agriculture form in Guardabosone. Vines, chestnuts, walnuts and fruit trees, such as apples, have been a typical part of the surrounding landscape for centuries.
In one of these courtyards there are two places of particular interest:
The old cellar
Climbing up a hill of stone steps we reach a small semi-underground cellar, excavated into the tuff rock.
The first settlements
Just a few metres further along, an underground hall leads to the first area’s settlements, dating back to the 12th century. The characteristic herringbone patterned walls, typical in Medieval architecture, surround a room in the tuff rock – the first Guardabosone settlement. This unique space contains a special and comprehensive collection of terracotta crockery originating from Ronco Biellese. The collection represents another focal point for the history of our lands, when during the last century merchants from all areas carried their goods between different countries, often on wagons drawn by animals.
(fuiot, tund, brunsin, ule, tofeja, supere, paliet d’la cua, basla, burnia, cucu, scuola, faciora, rasgneu e subiot decorated all the kitchens in the Biellese hills)