The Ricetto of Candelo

A tiny little village — a Ricetto, to be precise — the best-preserved one still standing in Piedmont, just a stone's throw from Biella. The ricetto is an ancient village created and maintained by peasants who, many centuries ago, used it to protect the produce of the land and the farming community. The village sits in the town centre and is reached on foot; outside the borgo, in front of the town hall, there are free car parks. You enter the ricetto through the brick tower that serves as the gateway. The Ricetto presents itself as an ancient "hamlet", unusual because it is set within the new town that grew up around it; it is clearly visible and well signposted by tourist signs, and from the very entrance it leaves you stunned with its singularity. At the entrance there is a small square and a few houses, some of which are still in use and privately owned.

Everything has remained and been faithfully preserved as it once was; some parts of the ricetto have been restored, yet the original structure has been kept, and everything is as it was in the days of the borgo. It dates back to roughly the year 900. Enclosed behind its protective walls, the ricetto has watchtowers and a patrol walkway, of which only a small stretch remains where you can walk. It feels as though you have been catapulted into the past, into an ambiguous, strange and mystical place! The borgo has a particular temperate microclimate, perhaps because it is so small and sheltered; it counts little more than five or six pedestrian lanes lined with mostly low houses. The atmosphere inside the ricetto is almost fairy-tale, and the place is truly unique and worth a visit. Two restaurants sit inside the ricetto, fitted into the restored ancient dwellings.

The typical product of the ricetto is a cured meat used to garnish the borgo's signature dish; within the walls, fairs, historical re-enactments, shows, award ceremonies and performances are often held. In the evening the atmosphere of the borgo is almost tangible: the streetlights come on, dimly lighting the narrow dirt lanes, and the low towers at the corners of the ricetto stand out dark against the sky as it begins to darken. Voices become muffled, the restaurants light up their dining rooms, and creeping ivy shields some of the small ancient buildings from view.

And how could you pass up spending Halloween night here? A place that is, to say the least, perfect! To visit it (free admission) half an hour is enough, but the sensation as you stroll through the little lanes is so pleasantly strange that you end up spending a long time observing the houses, the crenellated towers, the features of the dwellings and the little square at the entrance. There are a few small shops inside, and some private residents live in the tiny red-brick houses with wooden doors and little balconies full of flowers. Perfect for spending a summer evening, having dinner followed by a stroll — very characteristic and beautiful at sunset.