Past and Present
"Castello di Gabiano", situated in the Piedmont Region of north-west of Italy, boasts more than a century of history. In the 8th century, the document signed by Carlo Magno already testify the presence of a "Cortem magnam nominam Gabianam". In the remote 1164, Federico I granted the investiture to the Marquis Guglielmo II of Monferrato.
From this time the Castello di Gabiano was an important strategic and economic place, theatre of wars, passing over to the Montiglio, the Paleologo and the Gonzaga until the duke Ferdinando gave it to Agostino Durazzo Pallavicini in the year 1622, granting him the title of Marquis of Gabiano.
Today Giacomo Cattaneo Adorno, the last Marquis of Gabiano,together with his wife Emanuela, passionate and determined, directly engaged in an intensive wine production, are above all committed to capture theflavors and aromas of the terroir . In this way they can assure the wine making tradition of the family, updated with the current oenology knowledge.
The labyrinth
The labyrinth of the Gabiano castle, historical monument, is one of the rare examples documented within the framework of historic gardens of Italy. This has an exceptional importance not only for its rarity but also for the historic period in which it was realized which dates back to the 1930's when the already dominating taste for landscape integrated with formal gardens put nearby the residence but never in the form of a labyrinth.
The Gabiano labyrinth evokes the return to the past and finds its place within the framework of the restoration project assigned by the marquise Matilde Giustiniani to the Parma architect Lamberto Cusani to whom we owe the actual neo-medieval aspect of the castle and surroundings. The location of the labyrinth in the centre of the park emphasizes the contrast between the rigid and geometrical lines of the structure and the natural park that surrounds it, calling to mind the medieval concept of forest such as natural labyrinth (park) and labyrinth as artificial forest where nature is rigorously manipulated and controlled by man.
