The Hill of the King
An estate born of love, a village that has crossed two centuries, a son who took up its destiny. In the heart of Barolo country, Fontanafredda is vines, art, haute cuisine and a mist that becomes theatre
by Roberta Schira8 May 2026
In 1858 Vittorio Emanuele II purchased an estate in Serralunga d'Alba and gifted it to Bella Rosina — Rosa Vercellana, first his lover, then his morganatic wife. A pledge of eternal love, certified by 120 hectares of Langa.
It was their son, Emanuele Alberto di Mirafiore, who built the Village: farmhouses, cellars, a school, a church, the social club where he would read books aloud in the evenings to a community that could not read.
This place is called the Villaggio Narrante — the Storytelling Village. And the name says it all.
