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Who we are
COMMON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
- FAQ's -
What is Torrione Castle?
A private fortress surviving from the Middle Ages and an unusual example of a Museum for History.
Why is there so much security?
Because the Castle deals with sensitive subject matters and has a military security/defense-related profile which requires this type of security.
Being Torrione Castle a military security/defense-related site, is it possible to visit?
Each year, we receive hundreds of requests from individuals interested in visiting Torrione Castle. Regrettably, due to the nature of our security requirements, we are unable to conduct public tours. While opened only to Institutional guests who may spend the night in the Castle, under certain circumstances private visitors are allowed to visit the Museum (three-hours guided tour). Individuals or small parties up to 4 persons may reserve a tour at least two months in advance. School groups who wish to reserve a tour visit (outside only, one-hour guided tour), should write to us directly at least three months in advance. Reservations may be made by two methods:
Letter/fax: a letter or fax on the organization's letterhead stationery may be sent to our address, and should contain the name and address of the group, a telephone number, a point of contact, desired date and total number of persons in the group, including chaperons.
Internet: an e@mail should contain the name and address of the group, a telephone number, a point of contact, desired date, and total number of persons in the group, including chaperons.
Reservations may not be made by tour companies on behalf of clients.
Hours of Operation: between 10:15 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. Tours depart exactly on schedule. Visitors should plan on arriving at the Castle at least 15 minutes in advance to allow adequate time for processing. Photography, recording, smoking, or consumption of food are not permitted.
There is a public parking in front of the Castle and several restaurants are in the immediate area.
Why was the Museum created?
The very beginning question was how deeply our contemporary society is ready to accept to own not only its structure as a reflected contiguity with an unknown “:yesterday”. The answer is different, belonging to the different approach that any region, we don’t say States, has towards the common sense of “ancient”. In reality, people study the Past more as a consequence of an intellectual necessity of social identity, than a dimension which has reached us as whole. Students are expected to study, as people are expected to speak about Rome and Athens, crossing Pharaonhes and medieval Emperors, with the same capability they have when speaking about their favorite football team. For many centuries many governments have had a suspicious approach to the history of different cultures and they rewrite what they didn’t conceive of those cultures to fit their own views.
Today, the flourishing of International Organizations and self-administrators, forging a new meaning to the word “culture”, do exactly the same thing: people, the majority, is still out because nobody explain to them the common sense of the History.
We leave in highly technological society and we are, more or less and wars allowing, saving “technologically” what a consistent numbers of International Committees has defined as a World Heritage. But the history, the one which is more useful, can’t be mixed up with Pyramids. People lives daily sideways pieces of ancient and modern history: castles, palaces, buildings which are unknown because their are daily and daily they are razed to the ground or simply buried into oblivion. In this way we are loosing that slender thread which arrived at us from our own Past.
Torrione Castle is an answer for future generations to remember one of the few things that make different animal and human: the sense of History.
Who initiated this project?
In 1984 the Vialardi di Sandigliano Foundation, created and organized by Count Tomaso Vialardi di Sandigliano as a private non-governmental operating Institution, adopted the objective to protect Torrione Castle and its outstanding historical heritage. In 1986, recognizing that Torrione Castle has an enduring significance for future generations, its preservation became a responsibility shared by the Foundation's members, each member pleading to conserve this site. In 1988 the Foundation and Count Tomaso Vialardi di Sandigliano embarked on the immense task of restoring the Castle, continued for more than three years.
Why must the Museum charge admission?
The Museum is operated by the Vialardi di Sandigliano Foundation, which is a non-profit organization. The modest admission prices are necessary to maintain the day-to-day operations and support various non-profit activities.
Why is photography not allowed in the Museum?
Being the Castle a military security/defense-related site, photography is not permitted, and by allowing photography we would be in violation of the Vialardi di Sandigliano Foundation's and other donors''s copyrights. In addition to the legalities, the atmosphere in the Castle is one of respect and remembrance and we feel that photography would disrupt the mood which is so crucial to the Castle's interpretation.
Privacy Statement the Vialardi di Sandigliano Foundation
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