The tower that makes a fine show on top of the Saracca (the oldest part of the village, all gathered on the southern side of the hill of the town) is what remains of subsequent demolitions. A first castle was destroyed by the siege that the Asti troops under the command of the Bishop of Milan Ariberto d’Intimiano, placed in 1028 on the inhabitants accused of heresy. It was the first persecution of heretics which occurred two hundred years before the Cathars in France. Later in the thirteenth century. we have news of a second castle, built by the lords of Monforte and then changed hands several times until it reaches the Del Carretto possessions. This too was semi-destroyed in 1703, this time by the Savoyards, and a few years later the ruins were demolished; the current palace, now known as the Scarampi, who were the last owners, was also built by the Del Carretto family.
Because of all this it is very difficult to date the tower which could have originated in the 13th century as being older. Over time it has undergone numerous renovations, the most evident of which is the transformation into a bell tower of the disappeared church of Santa Maria, demolished at the beginning of the 1900s.
During the restoration work, a baroque niche emerged at the base which served as a baptismal font. Having lost its religious function, it has returned to being a civic tower, a symbol of the town, especially since the municipality added the clock that still decorates the highest part.
However, the site still has more ancient passages and entrances, walls and ramparts that are difficult to date, which however give a notable charm to the mystery of the heretics of Monforte, still unexplained.
The open space of the ancient castle is now mainly occupied by the seventeenth-century oratory of Sant’Agostino and above all by the Horszowski Auditorium: a splendid outdoor arena for MonforteinJazz concerts and numerous other initiatives that are held here with pleasant frequency.
A second tower is located in the lower part, between the new neo-Gothic parish church of Madonna della Neve, the “Colonello Martina” civic museum and the municipal library.
