Paribelli Castle

The Paribelli Tower in Albosaggia is a typical example of austere noble house derived from the progressive transformation of a fortification into an house. The rooms layout is clearly influenced by the presence of a massive tower in the middle, which houses frescoes of Medieval origins. It is the Torzone tower - named after the nearby creek, Torchione - presumably built during the 11th or 12th century on a hump that offers a broad view over the Val Livrio and a part of the valley. The tower was probably part of a defensive system controlled by the Capitanei.

When there was no more need of a military facility, the building became the house of the Carbonera family, that carried out the first renovation works and built a small chapel inside the walled garden.

The Carbonera moved to Sondrio e their palace was sold to the Paribelli family in 1584, that still ownes the palace.
A late Fifteen-century portal, topped by the Paribelli and the Tree Leagues coats of arm, leads to the porticoed hall, built to mitigate the severe appearance of the manor house.

On the ground floor there is a wide salon that houses a huge stone fireplace and a frescoed lunette portraying the Nativity in the entrance hall (16th - 17th century).
On the first floor there is the most beautiful and famous room of the palace: the Fifteenth-century stüa built by Giovanni Giacomo Paribelli for representative purposes, whose noble status was recognized in 1581. The stüa is a wood-panelled room, that was richly carved and inlaid. It was the most refined room of the building, heated by a beautiful stove.

The building is surrounded by a large walled garden and, next to the entrance door, there is the oratory dedicated to Saint Nicolas of Tolentino and Saint Vincenzo Ferrerio, built by the Carbonera family in the second half of the Fourteenth century and later used by the Paribelli family as a burial chapel.