Comune Giarole

via Vittorio Emanuele, 39 - 15036 Giarole (AL)
Tel. +39 (0142) 681.23
Fax: +39 (0142) 683.88
E-mail: sindaco@comune.giarole.al.it

The settlement before the year 1000 arose along the Grana stream around the church of San Pietro, now enclosed in the cemetery. From the 13th century onwards, the village developed around the castle, with its history closely tied to that of the Sannazzaro family.

Sannazzaro Castle, in fact, was founded following the imperial diploma granted in 1163 by Frederick Barbarossa to the Sannazzaro family, who still own it today. In the mid-19th century, interior renovations were carried out in a neo-Gothic (and neo-Renaissance) style. On that occasion, the young painter Grosso fell to his death while frescoing the central group of the ballroom, and legend has it that his ghost has haunted the castle's halls ever since. Not far away is the parish church of San Pietro Apostolo, built in 1840, which retains the 18th-century bell tower from the previous building.