The Rooms of "La casa di Giacomo"

La Casa di Giacomo is a 2-storey country home surrounded by fruit and olive trees and large cultivations of ruscus. The ground floor has been transformed from old wine cellars into two apartments that can take 4 people in each room. The first apartment has been fresco painted by the Australian artist Gemelle Madigan in 2007. Our interesting history of this fortunate meeting began in a cafe in Havana, Cuba in 2006. The room depicts the olive harvest, visually showing the way of life of the country folk. Much inspiration was taken from old black and white photographs around the 1850’s and also from old paintings and frescoes from Medieval times. The Room has been baptised ROSINA.

The second apartment is devoted to the famous Piemonte painter, Giovanni Canavesio, whose frescoes are still visible in the little Church of St. Bernardo. Painted in 1482, these frescoes depict the Passion of Christ and the Universal Judgment. Also in Pigna is the Church of St. Michele Arcangelo. In this larger church, complete with bell tower, you will see paintings of St. Michele in a wonderful altar shrine executed by Canavesio dated the 4th January 1500. They have been recently restored in 2004. We have devoted our second apartment to reproducing many of these paintings of Canavesio to illustrate the rich historical significance he has played in our local history and honour his contribution to life as we know it now. This room has been baptised, CANAVESIO.

Also on the ground level is an ample kitchen (around 80 sq. metres) and sunroom that is available to be used by all our guests of La Casa di Giacomo. This area then opens onto a large terraced outdoor area and swimming pool which take in views of the Valley.

On the First Floor there are three rooms available. These have been scheduled for decoration over the next few years. We wish to continue our acknowledgement of the rich history of our land and also pass on some of this knowledge to our guests. Every room will be devoted to important characters in the history of Pigna. After Canavesio, our next project will centre around a famous figure called Dr. Ludovico Isnardi. He became an Orthopaedic Doctor after beginning life here in Pigna as a child from a modest family. His passion for medicine and innovative inventions in orthopaedics rewarded him with great wealth during his lifetime. He died in 1927 and left to the people of Pigna a large part of his estate, including the local Primary School. He also set up a Scholarship for the children of Pigna so that each year a child of high ability but limited finances has the opportunity of further studies. This incredible visionary gift is under the guardianship of the Commune of Pigna. We wish to paint this great man and his history.