Palazzo Gromo Losa

In Biella's uphill Piazzo quarter, Palazzo Gromo Losa pairs a seventeenth-century noble residence with an unusually outward-looking present: a historic residence with a terraced Italian garden created around roses above the plain below the old town walls.

Why it matters

The palace became part of Biella Piazzo's cultural landscape after the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Biella acquired it in 2004 and restored the complex. Its garden is a rarity in this city: a formal Italian-style composition planned around a single theme, the rose, with climbing varieties woven over a central pergola whose pattern deliberately recalls the interlacing of textile — a quiet nod to Biella's wool heritage. The palace's garden and historic architecture connect it with the surrounding medieval borgo.

What to notice

The rose garden, created in 2012, includes fountains, gravel paths and a pergola whose woven form recalls Biella's textile heritage. The former patrician residence retains its historic proportions alongside later exhibition spaces. An installation titled "Plaç. Le storie del Piazzo" was created as a companion to the "Receptum" project at the Ricetto di Candelo; both opened in 2022.

Context and history

The palace grew from an elegant noble dwelling in the Piazzo, the walled upper town where Biella's leading dynasties built their residences from the late medieval period onwards. In the twentieth century the complex passed to the "Beata Vergine d'Oropa" institute run by the Rosminiane sisters, who used it for their charitable and educational work. In 2004 the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Biella bought the property and invested heavily — the Foundation reports spending on the order of twelve million euros across purchase and restoration — converting it into a contemporary exhibition and congress centre while keeping it rooted in community life. The rose garden was created in 2012 by the Biellese patron Emanuele Rosa. The palace's later restoration introduced exhibition and auditorium spaces within the historic residence.