Located in the picturesque Piazzetta dei Mondagli, one of the most evocative corners of the historic centre of Saluzzo, this is a building of medieval origin, situated just outside the circle of walls dating back to 1280, near the old Mondagli gate, demolished in 1890. It is a medieval building, transformed in later periods with frescoed ogival arches on the façade; in the 16th century the small loggias on the top floor were added, now walled up, while the closed and terraced loggia on the level of the small square dates to the early 19th century.
On the first floor there is a fine room in neoclassical style, decorated on the walls and ceiling with a mosaic floor. In the small flat on the first floor, the writer and patriot Silvio Pellico was born on 25th June 1789 and spent the first years of his childhood until 1793, though he kept fond memories of his hometown throughout his life.
In 2011, on the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy, a museum was set up to home Silvio Pellico’s memorabilia, most of which was donated to the town of Saluzzo by the writer’s sister in 1858. The museum unfolds on two floors: on the ground floor there is a room dedicated to Pellico’s literary work and an introductory video lasting about 30 minutes is shown, while on the first floor a room is dedicated to a large sequence of reproductions of the frontispieces of “Mie prigioni” (My Prisons), demonstrating the diffusion of Silvio Pellico’s work, which was published in hundreds of editions. In the elegant neoclassical room there is a reconstruction of a writer’s studio from 1800.
