Timeline

1600
Records from the 17th century provide the earliest evidence of a “manor” in Miradolo, with a vast estate, vineyards, and orchards, owned by the Macello family.

end-1700s
Having become the Marquis of Caresana, Maurizio Massel began the renovation and expansion of the rural buildings, transforming them into an elegant noble residence. A garden of delights was created in the “formal” or “Renaissance” style with parterres and a fish pond, while the surrounding estate was farmed for food and animal fodder.

1820–1839
Maurizio Massel’s wife, Maria Elisabetta Ferrero della Marmora, known as “Babet,” now widowed and left with three small children, initiated the neo-Gothic restyling of Miradolo Castle. The renovation project was designed by the architect Giuseppe Talucchi.

1824
The renowned landscape architect Xavier Kurten was called to redesign the castle’s gardens. The eighteenth-century layout was abandoned, with the fish pond transformed into a small lake and the park expanded and developed around a central Great Lawn. In keeping with the fashion of the “English” landscape garden, the sensuous and seemingly spontaneous design sought to elicit surprise and intrigue through the scenographic arrangement of shapes and colors.

1831
The greenhouse was built.

1839
The Round Tower was built to celebrate the wedding of Elisabetta’s son.

1866
Babet’s grand-daughter Teresa Massel di Caresana married Luigi Cacherano di Bricherasio. To mark their union, the castle’s facades were adorned with the escutcheons of the Massel family (three hammers) and the Cacherano family (a striped field with black and silver indented lines).

1867
Sofia Cacherano di Bricherasio, the eldest daughter of Luigi Cacherano di Bricherasio and Teresa Massel di Caresana, was born. Trained by the painter Lorenzo Delleani, her passion for painting led her to exhibit at the first Venice Biennale. Sofia and Teresa brought artists and intellectuals to Miradolo Castle, creating a true cultural cenacle.

1869
Emanuele Cacherano di Bricherasio, Sofia’s brother, was born. In 1895, he promoted Italy’s first motor race and established the Italian Automobile Club (ACI). In 1899, he was promoter, leading investor, and one of the nine founding shareholders of the Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, better known today as FIAT.

1871
Elisabetta Ferrero della Marmora died.

1904
Emanuele Cacherano di Bricherasio died during a stay at Agliè Castle, in circumstances that still remain a mystery.

1907
Captain Federico Caprilli, known throughout the world for having developed the forward seat riding position that revolutionized equitation, died. His friendship with Emanuele developed over their years together at the military academy and the “Piemonte” cavalry regiment in Saluzzo. Caprilli was a regular guest at Miradolo Castle, and it was here that he met Countess Sophia, with whom he became close.
His death, like that of his friend Emanuele, would never be convincingly explained. It would seem he fell from his horse on slippery terrain and hit his head.
At the behest of the Countess, he was buried alongside her brother Emanuele in the family chapel in Fubine, created by the sculptor Leonardo Bistolfi.

1923–1950
Teresa Massel died. As the last in the line of the family, her daughter Sofia abandoned painting to devote her time to charity and welfare work.
During the Second World War she left her habitual home in Turin and moved permanently to Miradolo, bringing with her the family’s possessions and archive.

1950
Sofia died. Miradolo Castle was included as part of the rich bequest left to the Little Work of Divine Providence founded by Don Luigi Orione, which transformed the castle and its park into a spiritual retreat and summer home for the elderly. Renovations from the 1950s to the 1990s greatly impacted the architectural plan and decorative features of the castle, in some cases irreparably, as well as the layout of the landscaped park.

Mid-1990s–2007
Miradolo Castle was abandoned and left in a complete state of neglect.

2007
The property was acquired by a group of private investors, with a view to transforming it into a cultural venue. Restoration work on the building and the historical park was started.

2008
The Cosso Foundation was established. Miradolo Castle was assigned to the new entity and officially opened to the public in October the same year with an inaugural exhibition on Delleani and his school. For the castle’s reopening, extensive structural work was carried out on the roof and the plant systems, which were completely degraded. In the years that followed, the foundation grew, developing its five thematic areas of interest—art, music, nature, learning & education, and community welfare—and the multidisciplinary approach that underpins its mission of promoting broadly diversified cultural production.

2009
The halls of the Noble Wing were restored, entailing the demolition of the curtain walls that had been installed by the religious congregation that had received the castle in bequest. The walls had served to “break up” the spacious halls of the wing into cramped rooms with bathrooms. These rooms originally housed the private apartments of the Cacherano di Bricherasio family. The family’s furnishings were sold off or stolen over the years, including a four-poster bed featuring ornate “bandera” embroidery.
Avant-dernière pensée was set up to become today the resident art collective at Miradolo Castle. Its sound productions and installations compellingly combine art and music, engaging with the interiors of the castle and its external grounds and breaking down the traditional wall between the audience and performers. Ever since, all exhibitions hosted at Miradolo Castle have featured a sound installation.
The SM-Stare Meglio project was started up in partnership with the Dept. of Psychology of the University of Turin and the Regional Center for Multiple Sclerosis–CRESM of the San Luigi Gonzaga Hospital of Orbassano, coordinated by Professor Silvia Bonino. The project gives patients the chance to receive group psychological and medical support in a non-hospital environment, in contact with beauty and nature—an experience which has been demonstrated to have a positive effect on patients with neurodegenerative diseases.

2010
The neo-Gothic greenhouse was restored. After its repurposing as a canteen and then the years of neglect, the greenhouse today stands in all its former glory, providing a venue of great charm for contemporary events, thanks to the discreet installation of heating, lighting, and automation systems.

2012
Restoration work began on the Historical and New Wings, continuing through to 2014. Structural work was also carried out on the facades of the Noble Courtyard to secure the modular brick elements making up the crown cornice along the roof line and stylish belt courses marking out the storeys of the building.

2014
The old chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist was restored.

2015
The Round Tower was restored, with work targeted at repairing the roof, securing the balcony, and cleaning the decorative elements.
The exhibition Caravaggio and His Time was held at Miradolo Castle, featuring the Penitent Magdalene kindly on loan from the Doria Pamphilj Gallery in Rome.

2016
The Cosso Foundation expanded the scope of its work with Progetto Ulisse, a multidisciplinary education project for secondary schools that explores the use of artistic and performance languages for developmental growth.

2017
The exhibition Fausto Melotti. When Music Becomes Sculpture was held, exploring the links—like all our exhibitions—between the works, the venue, and music.
As is our custom, the exhibition was designed, developed, and organized fully by the foundation. It also marked the introduction of the new One Meter Down® educational tour for ages 0–99.
The exhibition was paradigmatic of the approach espoused by the foundation, combining critical interpretation, formal respect, research, and innovation.
The first complete and accessible tour of the park was inaugurated.

2018
Five trees in the park were given ministerial heritage protection as natural monuments: the Ginkgo Biloba, the Taxodium distichum or bald cypress, the yew, the European hornbeam, and the tulip tree. A tree is said to be monumental when, for its size, longevity, rarity, or historical, natural, or cultural interest, its heritage value is formally recognized by law.

2019
As part of a major project to repopulate the historical gardens and protect their biodiversity, more than 130 rare cultivars of camelias were introduced, adding to the park’s rich historical camelia grove.

2021
The castle’s vegetable patch and farmyard area were redesigned by the architect Paolo Pejrone. The vegetable patch was given a circular shape that is harmonious, closed, and protected. The one- and two-story farm buildings present all the canonical features typical of an eighteenth-century Piedmontese farm.
Countess Sofia’s painting studio was also restored.

2022
The coat-of-arms was restored on the main facade overlooking the central Great Lawn, featuring fresco and dry-painted elements.
One year after the passing of Christo Vladimirov Javacheff and in partnership with the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation in New York, the Cosso Foundation organized Christo & Jeanne-Claude. Projects, the first anthological exhibition in Italy dedicated to the visionary couple that revolutionized the concept of the art work and the process of its making.

2022–2024
The Cosso Foundation was the first entity in Piedmont, and just the eighth in the north-west area of Italy, to obtain NRRP funding under the program for the protection and promotion of historical parks and gardens. The funding permitted extensive maintenance work and repairs to be completed.
Working with the architect Paolo Pejrone, the layout of the courtyards and pathways was restored to the pre-1900 design on the basis of a study of archival records. With a view to protecting the park’s biodiversity and enhancing the attractiveness of Miradolo Castle as a tourist destination, the undergrowth and perimeter wooded areas were restored and varieties of shrubs introduced to support bird life and insect pollinators. The lighting and irrigation systems were repaired and renovated, with the original irrigation canals put back into use to reduce water consumption. Efficiency improvements were made to the visitor management system through the introduction of centralized digital systems. Reception and visitor services were also modernized, improving accessibility, including new audio guides and inclusive information panels in the park, new counters and ticketing services, and innovations to the educational program for schools and families.

2023
The Cosso Foundation was awarded a grant for organizational and management innovations by the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation under its Next Generation You program. Designed to support third sector organizations in pursuing innovation, sustainability, and autonomy through their organizational rationalization and growth, the funding program is aimed at furthering the ability of those organizations to promote the growth and development of their local areas and deliver widespread and lasting benefits for the community.
Marking the year of artist’s death and the 15th anniversary of the Cosso Foundation, the exhibition Irma Blank. Between Sign and Silence was held to celebrate an artist who transformed the relationship between words and pictures. The visitor tour became more inclusive with Audio Descriptive, Italian Sign Language (LIS), and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) material introduced, alongside English and French translations of texts.

2025
The visitor tour of the castle was inaugurated, exploring its history and restoration and the families that left their mark on it.