Castello di Oviglio hosts conferences and meetings for up to 170 participants and weddings and banquets for up to 210 guests, with nine bedrooms on site. The castle stands in Oviglio, in the province of Alessandria in Piedmont, between the Monferrato and the Langhe, roughly halfway between Asti and Alessandria.
Seminars and company events
The castle offers three meeting rooms, from a small working session to a congress. Sala Sforza, at the foot of the castle with direct access from the free main car park, seats up to 170 in theatre style and has room for an exhibition area or a registration desk, plus an adjoining courtyard for breaks. Sala Visconti, on the piano nobile, seats up to 110 under a high ceiling, with mullioned windows that bring in daylight and close with period shutters. Sala Borbone, lined with wood paneling, takes up to 15 for a board meeting. Rooms can also be set as a classroom, an imperial table or a horseshoe. Equipment includes internet, sound amplification, wireless microphones, a flip chart, a video projector, a large screen and a lectern. On request the castle adds a secretariat, a control booth, simultaneous translation, teleconferencing, technical support, hostesses, photography, session recording and a stage or catwalk. The staff can also organize gala evenings, shows, excursions, cooking classes and wine tastings.
Weddings and receptions
The castle hosts one wedding per day, so the couple has the whole property, inside and out. Welcome drinks take place in the upper park among old trees, the main courses in the reception hall, and the cake, music and dancing in the courtyard at the foot of the castle, around a 200-year-old plane tree. In winter or bad weather, the piano nobile rooms, the hall of the old kitchens and the former stables take over. The parish church of Oviglio, very close by, serves for religious ceremonies. A bridal suite is set aside for the couple, and the staff handles flowers, printed menus and the table plan.
Rooms and capacities
Interior and exterior spaces together take events of up to 210 guests. For meetings, the three named rooms hold 15, 110 and 170 participants in theatre style.
Accommodation
The castle has nine bedrooms: four suites, Bistolfi, Borsalino, Visconti and Migliara, two junior suites, Moncalvo and Pelizza, and three comfort doubles, Alfieri, Carrà and Morando, all named after artists linked to the area. Suites and junior suites have a sitting area and a bathroom with a whirlpool tub and a separate shower.
Catering
The castle's own kitchens prepare the whole banquet, with traditional Piedmontese cooking and regional wines kept in the cellars, where Monferrato tastings also take place.
History and setting
Documents place a castle on the site from 1300, and a fortified castrum existed by 1367, when Oviglio passed to the Visconti. The Perboni family held it for almost five centuries. The Calcamuggi family later restored it and added the eastern entrance and tower. Bought by Queen Cristina, it took the name Castello Reale, and in 1908 it was declared a national monument.
Getting there
The castle is at Via XXIV Maggio 1 in Oviglio, with a free car park at the foot of the walls.
