The Romantic Night in the Most Beautiful Villages of Italy – Ricetto di Candelo

The Romantic Night at the Ricetto di Candelo

There is one night in midsummer when the most beautiful villages in Italy pause and surrender to sentiment. It is The Romantic Night in the Most Beautiful Villages of Italy, a national event that every year, on the weekend closest to the summer solstice, lights up over three hundred historic centers across the peninsula with magic. In Candelo, in the province of Biella, the natural stage for this evening is the Ricetto, one of the best-preserved medieval villages in Piedmont and Italy.

A village unique in the world

The Ricetto di Candelo is neither a castle nor a simple village: it is a defensive and storage structure built between the 13th and 14th centuries, not by a nobleman, but by the local population itself to safeguard their most precious rural assets, especially wine and cereals. Pentagonal in shape, it is enclosed by walls with cylindrical towers at the corners and crossed by five cobblestone rue (alleys). When evening falls and the lights dim, walking through these narrow streets by candlelight is an inherently romantic experience: this is why Candelo is one of the most beloved stops of the entire event.

What happens during the Romantic Night

The formula is the one that has made the event famous throughout Italy: the local bars, cafes, and trattorias within the village offer dedicated themed menus, pink aperitifs, and candlelight dinners, accompanied by live music drifting through the alleys. The evening is designed for couples but enjoyed by everyone—families, friends, and curious visitors—in a suspended and intimate atmosphere. At midnight comes the symbolic moment of the event: the collective kiss that ideally unites all participating villages in Italy and abroad.

An event that speaks to all of Europe

The Romantic Night is promoted by The Most Beautiful Villages of Italy association and is celebrated simultaneously in Spain, France, Wallonia (Belgium), and Japan, thanks to the World Federation of the Most Beautiful Villages of the Earth. Candelo, with its Ricetto, proudly represents Piedmont and the Biella area in this great collective appointment, confirming itself as an ideal destination for those seeking an authentic experience, far from mass tourism.