Places of interest
On the trail of Giovanni Battista Schellino
On the trail of Giovanni Battista Schellino
The face of Dogliani as it is today is the result of the experienced hand of Giovanni Battista Schellino, an eclectic architect from Dogliani who, in the second half of the nineteenth century, deeply characterized the urban planning of the village Dogliani of the time with his certain creative flair.
Giovanni Battista Schellino (1818-1905), an extravagant land surveyor and self-taught architect was born in La Spina, a small fraction of the countryside of Doglianese. With his works he shaped the face of this town giving it a monumental appearance .
“An eclectic triumph of neoclassical domes and neo-Gothic spires, medieval towers and Wagnerian sceneries”
The architectural peculiarity of Dogliani, distinguish Dogliani from all other towns of the Langhe since the eclecticism of this urban planner gave this town unusual corners so different from the styles and the tastes of the period.
The municipality of Dogliani note an important work realized by the students of the “Istituto Comprensivo Luigi Einaudi” of Dogliani.
Since 2018 this school takes part in the project “Educazione alla bellezza” “Educating in beauty” by the Foundation of the bank Cassa di Risparmio of Cuneo. One of the aims of “Grapes of Beauty” – the project was so renamed for the reality of Dogliani – is to enhance the territory and its cultural resources. The students and their coordinators have realized a virtual tour to discover the main local monuments of the architect Giovanni Battista Schellino.
Thanks to the MyMaps a Google program, has been created an app , accessible from personal computer, tablet, and smartphone, and called Schelliniani Routes.
Thanks to this application you can follow a recommended route to reach the main monuments of Schellino in Dogliani, each of which with a short description of the work.
Here is the link:
Two hundred years Archives SCHELLINO
In 2018 on the bicentenary of the birth of the architect Schellino (1818-2018), Schellino returned as protagonist of the fantastic neo-gothic sceneries designed and built by himself.
Schellino was a man with a brilliant and elusive personality an indefatigable self-taught architect in continuous movement. The study of his works involved
International experts such as Andrew Graham-Dixon (a BBC journalist), the Polytechnic University of Torino, the Soprintendenza alle Belle Arti, the Orders of Architects, and many leading figures of the cultural and artistic scene such as Claudia Ciardi, Silvia Valmaggi and Enzo Biffi Gentili who took part in the conference “CuNeo Gotico”. The conference was on December together with three photographic exhibitions: organized by Professor Daniele Regis and Professor Lorenzo Mamino.
In the restoration project of the “Holy Family” will remain available to the Municipality of Dogliani some spaces of this building, the entrance from piazza Belvedere with some rooms attached to the corridor, the Chapel and the nice theater in the basement.
In that theater, as in previous years, will take place some events as exhibitions, conferences, concerts and shows to promote this territory and the social and cultural life of Dogliani.
First of all these areas are dedicated to hosting the Schellino Archive.
After the death of Schelling his rich archive was donated to for friendship and gratitude to engineer
Gerolamo Fusina who left it to his daughter Maria Delfina who in 2006 donated the archive to the municipality.
In 2018, the rest of the documents was donated to the Municipality from Elisabetta Gabetti determinated to complete the work of her father.
This archival fond is very important including letters , draws ,books, diplomas, awards, and an unpublished photo of architect Schellino.
The archive is currently at the municipality of Dogliani waiting to be placed in the rooms attached to the Chapel where they will be inventoried, classified and restored and thus be available.
