Neive is an Italian town of 3 324 inhabitants in the province of Cuneo in Piedmont. Its historic center retains a medieval layout.
The historic center retains a medieval structure which is
concentrated in the upper part where some vestiges of the shelter
remain, even if the ancient castle was destroyed prematurely in 1276,
during one of the many wars between the municipalities of Asti and Alba.
The atmosphere of the ancient village has been maintained by virtue of
the winding cobbled streets which are arranged in rings around the top
of the hill or which climb towards the Clock Tower (13th century),
symbol of the ancient municipality.
The heart of the village is
represented by Piazza Italia: almost an eighteenth-century living room
which overlooks above all the administrative offices of the town. You
immediately notice a white building, the ancient Palazzo del Municipio,
with arches and slender pilasters, which bears a showy municipal coat of
arms above, under the clock.
The offices of the Municipality are
today located, on the other side of the square, in a building with an
exposed brick facade, Palazzo Borgese (birthplace of the Neivese
architect Giovanni Antonio Borgese whose artistic quality is
recognizable in many of the eighteenth-century noble residences and
churches of the village)
Other historical memories are
represented by the numerous brick buildings:
The Casaforte dei Conti
Cotti di Ceres, built in the XIII century by a family of bankers near
the Clock Tower; in it Francesco Cotti wrote (late 17th century) one of
the oldest Piedmontese texts on the cultivation of the vine;
The
Palace of the Countess Demaria (16th century), located near the San
Rocco gate, not far from which there is also the eighteenth-century
Palazzo Bongioanni Cocito.
The Palazzo dei Conti di Castelborgo (18th
century), stately home that houses the Castello di Neive farm; adjacent
to the palace are the Giardini Conti di Castelborgo (once much larger
and more well-kept) which can be accessed through an entrance with
arches and paired columns.
Among the religious buildings - apart from
the churches of San Rocco and San Sebastiano, located on the edge of the
village, almost guardians of public health - we must mention:
The
church of the Arciconfraternita di Michele, built in the second half of
the eighteenth century by the Neivese architect Giovanni Antonio Borgese
[8]. Seen from the square opposite, the church appears, for reasons of
space, squashed in the front part with respect to the apse; it is
characterized by the strong upward thrust of the terracotta facade in
the Baroque style, made more evident by the dome and the bell tower; the
interior, in the shape of a Greek cross, is characterized by its
neo-classical simplicity. The organ is placed in the gallery,
attributable to the Swiss organ builder Caspar Langenstein (1630).
The parish church of SS. Peter and Paul, built in 1750 to a design by
Francesco Gallo. The neo-classical facade is characterized by the
division into pilasters which suggest its structure with three naves and
the pediment; inside there is, among other works, a wooden choir.
By plane
The city is 54 km from Cuneo International Airport, which
is connected to the city by aerobus; domestic and international flights
depart from this airport.
Domestic flights: Alghero, Cagliari,
Trapani.
International flights: Bacău, Bucharest-Otopeni, Casablanca,
Međugorje (Mostar), Palma de Mallorca, Rhodes, Tirana.
By car
The city of Neive can be reached via the A33 Cuneo-Asti motorway and the
A6 Turin-Savona motorway.
On the train
The closest station is
Alba, from where there are bus connections to Neive. The Neive station,
located on the Alba - Castagnole line, has not been in service since
2014.
By bus
Neive is connected with other localities through
the Bus Company.
The municipality of Neive occupies an area
of 21.3 km² in the north-eastern sector of the province of Cuneo,
on the border with the province of Asti, and is immersed in the
wine-growing landscape of the Langhe. The capital Neive rises to 308
m above sea level.
It is 10 km from Alba (main town of reference),
about 79 km from Cuneo and 27 km from Asti.
It
seems that it owes its name to the gens Naevia, a noble Roman family
of which it was a possession: around 100 BC. it was already a
significant Roman settlement, crossed by the Via Aemilia Scauri, so
named after its builder, the consul Emilio di Scauro.
In the
Middle Ages a fortified castle was erected there (of which only a
quadrangular tower remains today) and a monastery of Benedictine
monks from the Fruttuaria abbey in the territory of San Benigno
Canavese was built in Borgonuovo.
The town was disputed for a
long time, in the communal age, between Asti and Alba; in 1242,
however, it was Asti to secure its definitive possession and to
place it permanently in its territorial structure, of which it
followed all the historical events and the passages to the different
lordships. At the end of the 14th century Louis of Valois, Duke of
Orleans and lord of Asti, included Neive in the Captaincy of
Astesana, an administrative division of strategically important
municipalities placed in defense of the County of Asti. On this
occasion the village was completely surrounded by good and solid
walls. At the beginning of the 16th century, in the context of the
conflicts between Francis I and Charles V, it passed alternately
under the dominion of France and Spain.
In 1531 Neive,
together with the whole County of Asti, was annexed by Charles III
to the Duchy of Savoy. After a new period of French domination, in
1560 it returned permanently to the Savoy with the Duke Emanuele
Filiberto. Only towards the middle of the seventeenth century,
following a general reform of the provinces of the Duchy, Neive was
spun off from that of Asti and assigned to that of Alba which had
just been established. Following the Napoleonic campaign in Italy
and the constitution of the Cisalpine Republic, in 1800 it obtained
the recognition of "Municipality". He returned to the Savoy family
in 1814 and followed the historical events of the family until the
constitution of the Italian Republic.
The medieval village
The historic center retains a medieval layout that thickens in the
upper part where some vestiges of the shelter remain, even if the
ancient castle was precociously destroyed in 1276, during one of the
many wars between the municipalities of Asti and Alba. The
atmosphere of the ancient village has been maintained by virtue of
the winding cobbled streets that are arranged in rings around the
top of the hill or that rise towards the Clock Tower (13th century),
symbol of the ancient municipality.
The heart of the village
is represented by Piazza Italia: almost an eighteenth-century living
room which mainly overlooks the administrative offices of the town.
You immediately notice a white building - the ancient Palazzo del
Municipio - with slender arches and pilasters, which bears a
conspicuous municipal coat of arms at the top, under the clock.
The offices of the Municipality are now located, on the other
side of the square, in a building with an exposed brick facade,
Palazzo Borgese (birthplace of the Neivese architect Giovanni
Antonio Borgese whose artistic quality is recognizable in many of
the eighteenth-century noble residences and churches of the village)
Other historical memories are represented by the numerous
terracotta buildings:
The Casaforte of the Conti Cotti di Ceres,
built in the 13th century by a family of bankers near the Clock
Tower; in it Francesco Cotti wrote (late 17th century) one of the
oldest Piedmontese texts on the cultivation of the vine;
The
Palace of Countess Demaria (XVI century), located near the San Rocco
gate, not far from which is also the eighteenth-century Palazzo
Bongioanni Cocito.
The Palazzo dei Conti di Castelborgo (XVIII
century), a stately home that houses the Castello di Neive farm;
adjacent to the palace are the Conti di Castelborgo Gardens (once
much larger and more cared for) which can be accessed through an
entrance with arches and coupled columns.
Among the religious
buildings - apart from the churches of San Rocco and San Sebastiano,
located on the edge of the village, almost guardians of public
health - we must mention:
The church of the Archconfraternity of San Michele, built in the
second half of the eighteenth century by the Neivese architect
Giovanni Antonio Borgese. Seen from the square in front, the church
appears, for reasons of space, flattened at the front with respect
to the apse; it is characterized by the strong upward thrust of the
brick facade in Baroque style, made more evident by the dome and
bell tower; the interior, in the form of a Greek cross, is
characterized by its neo-classical simplicity. The organ is located
in the gallery, attributable to the Swiss organ builder Caspar
Langenstein (1630).
The parish church of Ss. Pietro e Paolo,
built in 1750 on a project by Francesco Gallo. The neo-classical
facade is characterized by the division into pilasters that suggest
its structure with three naves and by the pediment; inside there is,
among other works, a wooden choir.
Le strade che conducono a Neive attraversano il paesaggio tipico
delle Langhe, fatto da bianche colline coltivate a vite: siamo in una
zone di produzione di grandi vini. Neive è infatti anche meta di visite
alle proprie aziende vinicole, spesso ospitate in dimore signorili, come
il settecentesco Palazzo dei Conti di Castelborgo.
Questo piccolo
paese è anche chiamato Terra dei Quattro Vini, via dei suoi vini
prodotti nelle sue colline:
Barbera d'Alba;
Dolcetto d'Alba;
Barbaresco;
Moscato d'Asti.
Gemellagi:
Neive è gemellato
con il comune frenche di Paladru, in the region Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi.
È stato inserted in the club de I borghi più belli d'Italia, si fregia, inoltre, del marchio di qualità turistico-ambientale della Bandiera arancione conferito dal Touring Club Italiano.