Alfredo D'Andrade was born in Lisbona on the 26th August of 1839. Passionately fond of travels and works of art, he studies the monuments of the many cities he visits. He was particularly interested in Italy, a country he loves very much and where he settles definitely in 1865: From 1871 D'Andrade devotes himself to restoration, an activity that would interest him till the year of his death in 1915. He' ll make a lot of interventions both for private people and for the State. A learned man and researcher of the artistic and architectonic patrimony of Piedmont and Aosta Valley, he becomes a profound connoisseur of ancient building systems and of the   manufacturing techniques of materials. His experience allowed him to obtain prestigious offices and in 1884 he was appointed, by the Minister of Public Education "Royal delegate for the conservation of Piedmont and Ligury monuments". His activity is really phrenetic and we owe him the realization of the medieval village of "Valentino" in Turin (1884) where he reproduced the most significant artistic and architectonic elements of medieval monuments of Piedmont and Aosta Valley.