Just a short distance to the east of Saluzzo, far from that part of the historic city marked by the emblems of the old marquisate ( 12th- 16th c.), “Villa Belvedere” dominates the surrounding plain; it is also known as “Belvedere Castle”, the rural abode that historians say originally belonged to the family of the marquises of Saluzzo (15th c).
Built on a knoll near the Convent of the Friars Minor (1471) of Saint Francis and Saint Bernard, Villa Radicati testifies to the splendid life at court of Ludovico II, Marquis of Saluzzo.
Along the road that goes from the convent to the hill, a simple high iron gate marks the entrance to the farm belonging to the Villa.
As soon as you reach the fence, you realize the environment inside is very different. In the foreground, with a long vista, you see an old lane intertwined with the high branches of acacias; a compact, silent route that connects up with the road of the Villa.
Once past the entrance, the view of the surroundings gradually becomes more fascinating by virtue of the natural beauty of the park.
At the end of the lane, and along its sides, the regular rows of vineyards, the geometric shapes and the decorous views - “stories” of bygone days- are overlaid with the trees and plantings found at the edges and along the western slope.
The “pratelli” that grow in the area are lovely and green, and here and there the route and the view are complemented by fruit trees all along the sides of the lane: apricot, cherry, apple and plum.
To the east, where the plain becomes a natural backdrop for the scenery, the villa gives onto a large panoramic terrace.
In Saluzzo, as in other parts of central Italy in the second half of the 15th century, the original structure of the Villa represented a quest for freedom. The country house served to create distance from city life and was a source of diversion for people, leading them to the gates of the city in an entirely original autonomous microcosm.