Alba (Ârba in Langhe dialect) is an Italian town of 31 394 inhabitants in the province of Cuneo in Piedmont. It is an important center of the Langhe area.
City Hall
It is in Piazza Risorgimento, the historic heart of
the city; it is built on pre-existing Roman buildings. [citation needed]
Inside, on the walls of the main staircase, some frescoes from the
Church of San Domenico, among which a Pietà, dating back to the end of
the 1300s, and an Adoration of the Magi stand out. In the council hall
there are important paintings: a panel depicting the Virgin and Child,
by Macrino d'Alba, dating back to 1501; an altarpiece with Madonna and
Child between St. Joseph and St. Anna, the Concert, attributed to Mattia
Preti.
Judicial office building
Located in the large Medford
square, near the Palazzo delle Mostre e dei Congressi, it is in Langa
stone, the work of architects Gabetti and Isola.
Via Cavour
It
is one of the main arteries of the historic city centre; retains a
typically medieval layout. On the left, in the small Piazza San
Francesco, the former Palazzo del Tribunal, headquarters of the teaching
institute, in the place on which the Church of San Francesco was
erected. Along via Cavour there are the Casaforte Riva and the Loggia
dei Mercanti, which consists of 3 large external arches, resting just
below the street level, and other minor arches, which can be glimpsed in
the basement.
Via Vittorio Emanuele
Always the main street of
Alba; also called Via Maestra by the inhabitants of Alba; it starts from
piazza Risorgimento and crosses the entire historical centre. It is an
expression of different architectural styles, from medieval to liberty.
At number 11 is Casa Fontana, characterized by a Renaissance frieze in
terracotta tiles, which is articulated between the 1st and 2nd floor of
the facade: players, ladies and knights can be observed dancing among
garlands of flowers. There are also the Palazzo Serralunga and the
Palazzo dei Conti Belli, at number 18.
The towers
Alba was
known as the city of a hundred towers, all built in the 14th and 15th
centuries; few remain (the best preserved are those between Piazza
Risorgimento and Via Cavour); among those that remain, many have been
lowered to the level of the roofs or incorporated into buildings.
In Via Calissano there is one of these towers, now lowered almost to
the level of the adjacent roofs: Torre di Casa Chiarlone, with a base
that rests at street level, adorned with a wooden door dating back to
the 18th century.
Despite its imposing appearance, Palazzo Marro,
which overlooks Piazza San Giovanni, is considered one of the hundred
towers.
Calissano coffee
Caffè Calissano is a historic café
located in the arcades of Piazza del Duomo. Founded in the second half
of the 19th century by Luigi Calissano, owner of a distillery, it had
clients such as Cesare Pavese, Beppe Fenoglio, Pinot Gallizio and
champions of fistball, the city sport. In 1986, the architect Maurizio
Saracco restored the Café and merged the areas of an adjacent room,
where there is a seventeenth-century fresco.
Church of San Giovanni Battista
Various works of art are kept in
this church, including a Madonna with Child, dating back to 1377, by
Barnaba da Modena;, an Adoration, by Macrino d'Alba, from 1508; a panel,
from the Macrino workshop, depicting the Virgin and Child between Saint
Augustine and Saint Lucia.
Cathedral/ Duomo
The cathedral of
San Lorenzo is the main place of Catholic worship in Alba, the mother
church of the diocese of the same name. The building, consecrated to San
Lorenzo, has a remarkable series of aesthetic-architectural similarities
with the contemporary Cathedral of Chieri: these similarities can be
found in part in the structure of the Romanesque-Gothic school, but
above all in the internal decorations; see, for example, the horizontal
band decorations of the walls and pillars, the lobed pillars themselves,
the blue color of the cross vaults.
The current cathedral of San
Lorenzo was built between 1486 and 1517 at the behest of the bishop of
Alba Andrea Novelli: taking possession of the diocese, in 1483, he had
noticed the state of serious deterioration in which the cathedral was
found and promoted its reconstruction. Of the ancient church, already
existing in the 11th century, only the bell tower, the three portals and
the portico of the facade and the crypt were kept; the other parts,
unsafe, were demolished.
In 1577 and 1584, the cathedral received
the apostolic visitation of the bishop of Bergamo Gerolamo Regazzoni
first, then of the archbishop of Amalfi Giulio Rossino; both indicated
the necessary interventions to adapt the church, and in particular its
presbytery, to the dictates of the Council of Trent. In 1626, following
two earthquakes, the cross vault of the central nave collapsed, which
was replaced in 1652.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the
cathedral underwent consolidation restoration and was equipped with new
altars and chapels, including the altar dedicated to Saint Theobald and
that of the Blessed Sacrament.
Between 1867 and 1872 the last
reshaping of the building took place on a project by Edoardo Arborio
Mella from Vercelli, with the direction of the works entrusted to the
architect from Alba Giorgio Busca and then to the engineer Giuseppe
Ferria for the completion of the facade in 1878.
In 1870, in
place of the central monofora, a large circular rose window was opened.
Starting from 1871, the fresco decorations of the vaults and walls were
created by various artists. Between 2007 and 2009, the new presbytery
was built at the foot of the staircase leading to the old one.
Church of San Domenico
On the small square near Via Calissano there
is the Church of San Domenico, from the 1200s or 1300s[16], the
restoration of which was resumed towards the end of the 70s, thanks to
the interest of the "Famija Albèisa", which l has brought it back to its
former glory. The church - although it is still consecrated and mass is
celebrated there sporadically - is often the venue for exhibitions and
concerts.
St Catherine's Church
Adjacent to the church of San
Domenico; its construction, in Baroque style, dates back to the 18th
century; the facade is divided, in the upper part, into 3 sections, with
pilasters, arches, friezes and various symbols. The portal is in
sandstone with an architrave and volutes.
Church of Santa Maria
Maddalena
It is in via Vittorio Emanuele, almost opposite that of
Santi Cosma e Damiano. It was, for a good part of the 18th century,
useful to the Dominican Monastery; it was a destination for pilgrimages
of the faithful, who went there to visit the remains of the Blessed
Margherita of Savoy. The portal has 18 panels carved in walnut, the
presbytery, the main altar, with an oval frame, inside which there is a
painting of La Maddalena, the choir of the vault, frescoed with glimpses
of Baroque architectural perspectives.
Church of Saints Cosma and
Damiano
It is in via Vittorio Emanuele, close to that of Santa Maria
Maddalena. It was built on the remains of Roman walls; of very ancient
origin, it is mentioned for the first time in documents from the 1200s.
In 1760 it was completely rebuilt, from the foundations, in Baroque
style, based on a project by Carlo Emanuele Rangone di Montelupo. During
the excavations, at a depth of about three meters, a black and white
mosaic floor came to light, a bronze medallion with the effigy of the
emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Churches of the 20th century
The
Temple of San Paolo, on the homonymous square, built in 1925, based on a
project by the architect Giuseppe Gallo; enriched, in the following
years, by a cast bronze portal, the work of the sculptor Narciso
Cassino.
church of Cristo Re, built in 1956 by the architect
Dellapiana, with a rectangular plan, with a single nave and 2 side
corridors.
Sanctuary of Nostra Signora della Moretta, built in 1905,
thanks to the Josephan fathers of Asti, on a site where, previously, a
small votive pillar had been built.
Other places and monuments of
interest
Church of San Giuseppe, in via Vernazza
Hospital of San
Lazzaro, built for the treatment of lepers and infectious patients.
Caleria Vacquer-Paderi Children's Hospital
In 1895 Luigi
Vaquer–Paderi established, within the San Lazzaro Hospital of Alba, the
Caleria Vacquer-Paderi Children's Hospital, where children of all
nations could be treated from infectious diseases, in memory of his
wife, daughter of the nobles Adolfo de Roberti, State Counselor of the
Emperor of Russia, and Olga Noinskji of St. Petersburg. The
Vaquer-Paderi and de Roberti-Noinskji donation, in addition to the
children's hospital, included some scientific departments of the civil
hospital; it turned out to be innovative, for the time, and concerned
the city of Alba as the Vaquer-Paderi, of the Grenadier Brigade of
Sardinia, while commanding the military square of Alba, lost his very
young wife, to whom he also dedicated an infant school in
Villanovafranca (CA ); together with her he was buried in the special
graves of the Alba cemetery. In the Historical Archive of the San
Lazzaro Civil Hospital in Alba, in addition to much material on the
donation, there are reports of sick children hospitalized at the
Ospedaletto in the years from 1910 to 1915
By plane
The nearest airport is Cuneo Airport (IATA: CUF), about
50 km, but has few connections. The nearest international airports are
Torino Airport (IATA: TRN) and Malpensa Airport (IATA: MXP).
By
train
The train station in Alba is located in Piazza Trento Trieste,
directly on Corso Fratelli Bandiera.
In the street
• FROM
TURIN: Take the A6 / E717, direction MARENE / CHERASCO. Take the exit
towards BRA - MARENE. Follow the SS231/E74/Via Bra towards
ASTI/ALBA/CHERASCO/BRA/La Morra. In Bra continue on the SS231 and then
on the SP3bis towards SAVONA / BAROLO / ALBA C.SO EUROPA. Take the exit
towards Alba.
• FROM MILAN: Take the A7. Continue towards E70-A21
to Turin, take the exit towards ASTI EST / E74 - A33 - CUNEO. Continue
towards SS231 - CUNEO - ALBA. Near Asti continue on the SS231/E74. Take
the exit towards E74 / A33 Asti - CUNEO. Take the exit towards SAVONA /
BAROLO / ALBA and take the exit towards Alba.
• From GENOA: Take
the A7/E25 towards AUTOSTRADE. Continue towards E80 / A10 - VENTIMIGLIA
/ AIRPORT - A26 - ALESSANDRIA. Continue on A10 / E25 / E80. Take the
exit towards A26 - A7 - ALESSANDRIA. Continue towards ALESSANDRIA OVEST
- A21 - TURIN - PIACENZA. Continue towards TURIN - A21. Take the exit
towards E74 Asti Est - A33 CUNEO. Continue towards SS231 - CUNEO - ALBA
- SS436 - NICE - CANELLI - ACQUI TERME - SS457 - CASALE. Continue
towards SS231 - ALBA - CUNEO - SS436 - ACQUI TERME. Follow direction
SANTO STEFANO BELBO - SS231 - CUNEO - SS456 - ACQUI TERME - SS231 -
ALBA. Take the exit towards E74 - A33 - CUNEO. Take the E74 / Asti-Cuneo
motorway and take the exit towards A33 / E74 - CUNEO. Take the exit
towards SAVONA / BAROLO / ALBA and take the exit towards ALBA.
The old town can (and must) be explored on foot. There is also the Bicincittà bicycle rental system with four stations in the city center, the rental system operates daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Fiera Internazionale del tartufo bianco d'Alba. Alba is world famous
for its white truffle and the festivities surrounding it represent the
highlight of the year. They usually run from the beginning of October to
mid-November with a focus on the weekends.
notte bianca delle
librerie. Long Night of the Bookstores. On a Saturday evening in May,
all of Alba's bookshops and libraries get together, stay open until
midnight and organize numerous discussions, readings and other program
items, some of them in the open air.
In the old town, the main shopping streets are Via Vittorio Emanuele II and Via Camillo Cavour as pedestrian zones, but be careful, most of the shops are closed on Mondays. A little further out on the road to Asti is the Albacenter, which mainly has a large grocery store. The shopping times from Mon to Sun from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. are particularly interesting here.
Intimately linked to the Langhe and Roero areas, Alba cuisine is
expressed in simple dishes with a robust and decisive flavor.
Let's see what are some of the best typical dishes of Alba that you
absolutely must not miss:
Tjarin with butter or Alba White truffle
Raw Albese meat
Ravioli del Plin
Gnocchi with Castelmagno
Barolo sausage
Cured meats and cheeses from the region
Vitello
Tonnato
Braised in Barolo
Mixed cooked meat
Bagna Cauda
Hazelnut Bone Cake
Casa Scaparone, Località Scaparone. Phone: +39 0173-33946.
Ospedale San Lazzaro di Alba, Via Pierino Belli 26. Tel.: +39 0173 316111. The hospital is located on the outskirts of the city center and offers all the essential medical departments.
Territory
Located about 50 km south-east
of Turin and as many north-east of Cuneo, Alba rises, for the most
part, on the right bank of the Tànaro river, on a vast flat basin,
about 170 meters above sea level, surrounded by hills, rich in
vineyards, the Langhe and Roero.
It has a typically Po valley
climate, with a slightly more pronounced summer drought than the
lands north of the Po.
Neolithic
According to
archaeological findings, the territory of Alba was already inhabited
in the Neolithic period, between the 6th and 3rd millennium BC, by a
permanent population, who lived on hunting and agriculture, lived in
round-shaped huts, in a village, located in the area of the
current Borgo Piave, or grouped in a village on the left bank of the
Cherasca stream, near the confluence with the Tànaro.
These
inhabitants knew the working of ceramics and green stone, sharp and
suitable for the first rudimentary tools; they also practiced cattle
breeding.
In the following millennia they knew the use of
iron and bronze and were classified with the nomen of Liguri
Stazielli, a term that defines an ethnic group of Celtic origin
assimilated, then, by the Gauls, invaders of this area, at the end
of the fifth century BC.
Roman age
The origins of the town
of Alba are certainly pre-Roman, probably Ligurian-Celtic.
The toponym is in fact typical of the Ligurian civilization and
would mean "white city".
The city obtained the Roman
imprimatur with the edict of the consul Gneo Pompeo Strabone and was
baptized Alba Pompeia.
As a Roman municipium it was included
in the Regio IX Liguria and ascribed to the Gens Camilia.
The
various Roman finds show that in the first 2 centuries of the Alba
empire, together with Pollenzo and Bene Vagienna, it formed a
strategic and commercial triangle, creating urban structures of
considerable interest, including the aqueduct, to convey the waters
to the city, and the sewerage system for discharging wastewater into
the Tanaro river.
The Roman dawn was administered
independently, had its own magistracy, housed 5 orders of people:
the decurions, the wealthiest citizens, the Augustals, knights,
contractors and freedmen. Finally, the plebs, divided into a college
of arts and crafts. In addition to the college of blacksmiths there
were the centonari, manufacturers of wool and fabrics, the
dendrogradi, who supplied timber for houses and ships.
All
the historical material on the Roman era is kept at the "Federico
Eusebio" Civic Museum of Natural Sciences and History.
The
epigraphic and archaeological material of Alba Pompeia describes the
life of a medium-high class, consistent in numbers, made up of both
Roman gentes and descendants of Celto-Ligurian origin.
Agriculture and livestock farming were the main activities of an
important part of the Alba Pompeia elite.
The historian Gaius
Pliny the Second already describes the existence of an agricultural
technique applied to viticulture, refined and evolved.
The
city - surrounded, at the time by large polygonal walls - hosted the
emperor Augustus on his way to Gaul and was the birthplace, in 126,
of the emperor Pertinax.
Middle Ages
In the periods
following the Roman domination, medieval walls were built: from the
Gothic-Lombard ones to the post-Carolingian ones; after the
Hungarian-Saracen invasions, other renovations took place during the
municipal period. The urban perimeter remained unchanged until the
modern era.
The history of Alba records the visit of San
Dalmazzo, before 5 December 254, the date of his martyrdom, helped
by San Giovanni Presbiterio in the conversion of the pagans.
San Frontiniano, a native of Carcassonne, also appears in Alba at
the end of the third century: on his return from a pilgrimage to
Rome he stops in Alba and frees a girl from the devil. The prefect
of the city, strangely enraged, captures him at the exit of Alba and
has him beheaded. The legacy of an ancient cultural tradition, which
recognizes Saint Frontinian as protector of children, has led the
mothers of sick children to walk around the church dedicated to the
saint 9 times, begging for healing.
After the fall of the
Western Roman Empire, in 490 the city was sacked by the Burgundians
followed, in 640, by the Lombards of Rotari and the Franks of
Charlemagne, who created the conditions for the development of
feudalism.
Due to the devastation suffered and the looting,
it was decided to choose the nearby town of Diano as the
administrative seat because, thanks to its natural position, it was
more difficult to conquer.
Subsequent raids by the Saracens impoverished the diocese of Alba
to such an extent that it came to be suppressed and united with
those of Asti and Savona.
The Hundred Towers
The medieval
walls of the city represented a remarkable defense system: built on
a base over 2 meters high, they were half a meter thick, were
equipped with buttresses and towers, and were surrounded by a moat
for their entire perimeter.
The city gates mirrored the
access roads: Porta Tanaro to the north, Porta San Martino to the
south, Porta del Soccorso or Porta Cherasca to the east, Porta San
Biagio to the south-east, Porta Castello to the west. Each gate had
one or two towers, for the guardhouse and for the toll collection
officials.
Thanks to the territorial expansion of the
municipality, Alba saw the formation of 7 "Camparie" and 6 castles,
built to form a crown on the adjacent hills, with defensive
functions.
In the same period monasteries, churches and 6
hospitals were built in the city. The San Lazzaro hospital was built
for the treatment of lepers and infectious diseases. An ancient
donation obliged to leave, every year, 2 money astesi, or a bushel
of wine, to the poor sick. The Santo Spirito del Ponte hospital was
located near Porta Tanaro and belonged to the Augustinian canons of
the Ferrania abbey. The hospital of Sant'Antonio treated the
diseases of the sacred fire, an epidemic disease, very widespread at
the time. A fourth hospital, dedicated to San Marco, was located in
the place where the Cottolengo was built. Owners were the Jerusalem
friars or knights of the order of St. John of Jerusalem.
The
coat of arms of Alba dates back to this period, showing a red cross
on a silver field.
The alliance with Charles of Anjou
In
1259 Alba allied himself with Charles I of Anjou, managing to manage
disputes with nearby Asti, but the period was full of rivalry and
broken promises, between the Guelph and Ghibelline Solari families,
who competed for dominance over the territory .
Asti became
the "enemy" par excellence, interested in depriving Alba of dominion
over the Tanaro Valley.
Emblem of the time are the towers,
moreover used in prison. Some of them, with a square plan, prolong
the typical medieval aspect of the city over time.
In the
12th century it became a municipality and joined the Lombard League.
Most of the towers were demolished in the 19th century; the
municipal one was demolished in 1864; the material was used to make
changes to the Duomo building.
From the Renaissance to the
Enlightenment
The conflict between the French and the Spanish, in
the first half of the 16th century, saw Alba as the scene of bloody
clashes, a situation that worsened with the arrival in the city, in
1537, of Charles V. The history and chronicles of those years
recorded numerous clashes between rival armies, with serious
consequences on monuments and works of art, subject to devastation
and looting.
After the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559,
Alba was ceded to the Gonzagas of Mantua. It was a period of
relative peace, even if it was a really difficult undertaking to
remedy the devastation that had impoverished the territory.
Other damages were caused by some earthquakes, which occurred from
1541 to 1549.
When Francesco IV Gonzaga died, Alba was
attacked by Carlo Emanuele I of Savoy, who placed it under siege,
for the first time on 23 April 1613; but he managed to conquer it
only on 1 April 1628, after alternating events of clashes and
skirmishes with the Gonzagas.
The plague
Once the military
operations ceased it was the turn of the plague. In 1630 the first
symptoms began to appear, with a consequent demographic decline.
Thanks to the appointment as a province and the revival of
fairs, festivals and markets - suspended for decades due to the most
diverse and disparate calamities - a recovery was favored, which did
not last long, also due to the interminable dynastic wars of the
time.
The eighteenth century
This era saw a series of
literary and artistic activities flourish, among which the
Philharmonic-literary Academy, created by the canon Odella, stands
out. This association could boast, during the 19th century, the
adhesion of illustrious personalities, such as Silvio Pellico and
Giovanni Prati.
New buildings were also built: the hospital
of San Lazzaro, based on designs by the architect Di Robilant; the
church of Santi Cosma e Damiano, rebuilt on the basis of a project
by Count Carlo Emanuele Rangone of Montelupo; the church of Santa
Maria Maddalena, based on designs by Vittone.
Thanks to a considerable cash outlay (3,000 silver lire), in
1742, the city was invested with the fief of Santa Rosalia with the
title of "Countess of Santa Rosalia".
Thanks to letters
written by Baron Giuseppe Vernazza to his friend and Count Guido
Gaschi, scholar and archivist, an interesting vision of life in Alba
emerges between 1779 and 1787. Vernazza - che. to obtain the
baronial title, he spent good money, to the chagrin of his father -
he observed the world of that era with the eye of the bourgeois, not
attentive to the great events that were changing the Europe of the
time. Vernazza himself, passionate about archeology, was the
protagonist of an important discovery: the recovery, in the bed of
the Tanaro, of a memorial stone sculpted by Caio Cornelio Germano
and Valeria Marcella, an artifact kept in the Alba Museum.
French Revolution
At the end of the century the city experienced
the French Revolution and was one of the first to advocate the
Jacobin faith, proclaiming itself a republic and welcoming the entry
of Napoleon Bonaparte on April 28, 1796.
The French adventure
was short-lived, provoking some mourning, desecrating works of art
and historic buildings; for example, the gothic church of San
Domenico was converted into a stable.
The city was asked to
contribute 123,000 lire at the time to the military expenses of the
French; disproportionate amount, for the finances of the city, so
Alba sent 2 ambassadors to discuss the provision, but one was shot.
The aforementioned ordinances to contribute to the maintenance
costs of the French army, combined with the looting of works of art,
physical violence against the population and, above all, the
introduction of compulsory conscription - for young people over the
age of 19 , to be enlisted in the Napoleonic Army (which deprived
the families of the arms indispensable to work in the fields) -
exasperated the population and induced many Albesi (as had happened
in other places in the Langhe) to abandon the city and merge into
the formations of insurgents, so-called barbets, who tried to
counter the abuses committed by the army from beyond the Alps.
Nineteenth century
The reconstruction of the city, after the
devastation of the French Revolution, was begun by Carlo Felice di
Savoia, who led to the construction of the Monastery of the
Maddalena, also providing for the rearrangement of the road that
connected Alba to Savona, passing through Cortemilia. The urban
planner and architect Giorgio Busca was the architect of this
project and of a series of buildings: the Teatro Sociale, Palazzo
Miroglio, Via Roma and Piazza Savona. Busca also held the office of
mayor, between 1861 and '65; saw the affirmation of the nascent
bourgeoisie, traders, technicians, professionals who, after 1848,
gradually occupied public offices, giving impetus to numerous forms
of Mutual Aid Societies, including the one that, founded in 1851,
brought together artists and workers .
Twentieth century
After the First World War, without enthusiasm the city coexisted
with Fascism, undertaking successful trade fairs.
The còche -
groups of young people - were the initiators, in controversy with
the Palio of Asti, of a competition between donkeys.
The
Truffle Fair was born in 1929 at the behest of the entrepreneur
Giacomo Morra.
Alba, during the Second World War was
proclaimed an "independent republic". For 23 days (from 10 October
to 2 November 1944) it was the first partisan republic established
in Italy, obtaining a gold medal for military valor, for the intense
partisan activity, told by the writer Beppe Fenoglio.
During
the Second World War, in the period of the German occupation and of
the Italian Social Republic, the marshal of the carabinieri of Alba,
Carlo Ravera, saved from deportation numerous families of Jewish
refugees, residing there in forced domicile since the end of August
1942. Instead to proceed with their arrest, according to the orders
received on 2 December 1943, he favored their escape, with the help
of his wife and Beatrice Rizzolio, owner of the local mill. For this
commitment of solidarity, on January 23, 1975, the Yad Vashem
Institute in Jerusalem conferred the high honor of the Righteous
among the Nations on Marshal Carlo Ravera, his wife Maria Ravera and
Beatrice Rizzolio.
In 1948 and, above all, in November '94,
violent floods, caused by the Tanaro and some of its tributaries,
devastated some areas of the city.