Palazzo La Marmora

Palazzo La Marmora is a historic residence in Biella Piazzo, associated with the Ferrero della Marmora family since the sixteenth century. Its long façade, decorated halls and garden preserve the history of one of Biella's prominent families.

Why it matters

The palace preserves a rare continuity of family residence and memory. Its portraits, heraldic details and archives connect the building with the Ferrero della Marmora family and with figures such as Risorgimento generals Alfonso and Alessandro Ferrero della Marmora.

What to notice

The roughly eighty-metre façade reflects a late-eighteenth-century remodelling. Interior features include the Sala dei Castelli, with frescoes depicting family castles and coats of arms; a weapons hall with a sixteenth-century fireplace; and a ballroom decorated by Fabrizio and Giovannino Galliari. A covered winter garden shelters a long-established climbing fig, while the garden occupies ground associated with the former castle of Bishop Uguccione of Vercelli.

Context and history

The oldest part of the palace dates to the fourteenth century. It became the Ferrero della Marmora residence in the sixteenth century and was expanded and remodelled in later centuries. The late-eighteenth-century façade is associated with architects Filippo Castelli and Rolando Lodovico Giacinto Gromo. The family produced prominent figures of Italian unification, including Alfonso and Alessandro Ferrero della Marmora. A restoration of the façade took place in 2015–2016.