DURING THE MIDDLE AGES, A ricetto was a common structure found in Italian villages. It’s deemed a fortified area used to store agricultural products, livestock, and working tools but was also often utilized as a fort for protection.

The ricetto of Candelo, in Piedmont, is the best-preserved example of such a structure. Dating to the late Medieval period, the area is crossed by narrow roads that run between tightly packed buildings. It’s almost completely surrounded by its original walls, with only a small opening made during the 19th-century.