history
of the village

At the end of the 10th century the territory of Almese was controlled by the Arduinici, marquises of Turin. In 1029 an agricultural company, the curtis, was donated by the marquises to the Benedictine monks of San Giusto di Susa.

The Curtis of San Mauro is the dominical nucleus of the agricultural company ceded by the Arduinici to the monks of San Giusto, who made it a provostship named after San Mauro. Thus, on an outcropping rock, a church with a bell tower arises (however, the doubt remains whether the church and bell tower pre-existed this event).

In the 14th century it became a fortified castle of refuge, transforming from Curtis to Castrum. The Romanesque bell tower was modified into a massive defensive tower with a vast moat fed with water taken from an artificial conduit from the Messa torrent.

Inside the fortified building there are buildings intended for storage for crops, grape harvests and for the housing of animals. Inside a second enclosure there was a residential area with the abbey hall, where the abbot stopped during his travels from Susa to Turin, and where the castellan usually resided with a small garrison intended for the initial defense of the castle.

In 1772 the ancient shelter gradually lost its importance, degraded to an agricultural residence which was gradually divided between several owners. On the north side, part of the moat is still visible, the masonry passage to access the village, which today replaces the old drawbridge, the Guelph crenelated walls, and the access door. The tower, whose stone and brick walls bear the signs of various renovations, is 26 meters high and consists of seven shelves connected by a staircase up to the panoramic top.

Part of the Ricetto and the Tower were the subject of a restoration and renovation project completed at the end of 2006, becoming an exhibition space and venue for cultural events. Following a donation, they are now owned by the Municipality of Almese.