Fiera di Primiero (29/12/2024)

On a day trip from Vicenza, my parents, Ania, and I decided to head north to the mountains and visit the area of Fiera di Primiero. We parked the car right outside the old town, next to the Cismon River, and then headed first to a bar to have a second breakfast. After that, we started walking through the tiny but nice old town, consisting of a main street lined with lovely houses, and at the center, the main square, Piazza Battisti. Here stands the church of the Beata Maria della Consolazione, dating to the 17th century, with nice wooden baroque altars inside, while the exterior was frescoed in the 1940s and the bell tower was added at the beginning of the 20th century. Further along the street and slightly uphill, we then reached the Palazzo delle Miniere, a 15th-century palace which served multiple purposes throughout its history. It was the former seat of the mining judge, the district captaincy, the government palace, the duties, the forestry offices, and finally the seat of the direct tax and registry office. Right next to it stands another church, that of Santa Maria Assunta, a 15th-century Gothic church which was unfortunately closed during our visit. Smaller but nonetheless picturesque was the church of San Martino, standing next to the main church, slightly uphill. Dating to the 13th century in a Romanesque style, it was used for a long time as a baptistery to the nearby Santa Maria Assunta, and still features traces of 19th-century frescoes on the outside, while the interior still features traces of medieval frescoes. A little further uphill, right next to this last church, is the so-called Canonega Vecia, which used to be the old rectory and still features a nice 18th-century frescoed facade with wooden balconies. From there, we then walked back down towards the river, crossed i,t and passed through the nearby town of Transacqua. Along the riverside on the outskirts of town, close to the next town, Tonadico, we had some beautiful views towards the nearby Pale di San Martino mountains and then stopped to have lunch at the Il Caminetto restaurant. We then entered Tonadico's old town, made up of the typical stone and wood houses of the area. We first passed by the church of San Sebastiano, which was closed, and then past some nice old buildings, one of which was the Palazzo Scopoli. Built starting from the 11th century, it was first used as a warehouse for the local community, then became the residence of the bishop's vicar, as well as the building where the Statutes of Primiero were kept. In the 15th century, it became the property of the Scopoli family, who enlarged and modernized the building, and now the palace stands as the municipal seat. Heading uphill from the town center, we reached the church of Santi Vittore e Corona, built in the 11th century but refurbished in its current form in the 16th century. The church was closed, but from up there we had a splendid view of the Primiero valley below. Moving on, we then reached the next town, Siror. Also, the old town was characterized by nice stone and wood houses, some of which with traces of frescoes. We also reached the local church, Sant'Andrea, which was open. Originally dating to the 14th century, it was rebuilt in the 18th century, taking its current baroque appearance, especially on the inside. From there, we then left town following a nice road through the countryside between the towns, dotted with typical wooden huts, and eventually reached the car. We then drove back and had a stop in Bassano del Grappa along the way to see its Christmas market and have a nice walk through its pretty old town. 

View of the Pale di San Martino

The old town of Fiera di Primiero

The interior of the church of the Madonna dell'Aiuto

The main square

The Palazzo delle Miniere and the church of Santa Maria Assunta

The church of San Martino

The old refectory, the Canonega Vecia

The Cismon river

The old town of Tonadico

A street in the old town

The church of San Vittore

The countryside between Tonadico and Siror

The old town of Siror

A street in the old town

A view of the Pale di San Martino

Vignale Monferrato, Sacro Monte di Crea, & Moncalvo (26/12/2024)

On a sunny day, we decided to visit a few towns in the Monferrato area of Piemonte. Leaving Alessandria, we reached the town of Vignale Monferrato, picturesquely located on a hilltop in the hilly area of Monferrato. Once there, after having parked the car, we explore the old town on foot. We walked through the central Piazza del Popolo, surrounded by nice buildings and with a garden at its southern side facing out with a nice view. Then, slightly up from there, we reached the main church, San Bartolomeo, built between the 18th and 19th centuries with an imposing neoclassical pronaos. It was closed, so we walked around it and reached a panoramic terrace from where we had an amazing view of the surrounding landscape and the snow-covered mountains to the west and north, including the easily recognizable figures of the Monte Rosa and Monviso. Moving on, we walked and reached another terrace at the southern end of town, from where we enjoyed another amazing view. Descending down some stairs, we passed in front of the Beata Vergine Addolorata church, built in the Gothic style in the 15th century. It was also closed, so we continued walking some other minor streets until we circled back to the car. Driving on through the hilly landscape, we then reached the town of Serralunga di Crea, and after driving up a steep hill, we reached the Sacro Monte di Crea, one of the nine Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, included in the UNESCO World Heritage list. The complex consists of a sanctuary with a church located on the eastern end of the hilltop, and on the rest of the hill, at an even higher altitude, are a series of chapels dedicated to the Mysteries of the Rosary set throughout a nice protected park. The current sanctuary was built starting in 1589 to encourage prayer and meditation and to renew the Marian devotion linked to the shrine, a pilgrimage destination of considerable importance since the 11th century. We entered the main church and admired its nice baroque structure, including the large facade. Once inside, particularly noteworthy were the 15th-century frescoes inside the chapel of Santa Margherita, with incredible Renaissance living figures. We also saw the room with many ex-votos, thanking the Virgin Mary for many near-death experiences the faithful experienced, some as old as from the 19th century, while others were more modern. After visiting the church, it was time to head around the park and visit the rosary chapels. We didn't follow them in order, and all 18 chapels; however, we still saw the majority of them making a whole loop around the hilltop. We started out with the 5th chapel, right across the square from the church, featuring the nativity of Mary. The incredible thing about these chapels is the lifelike sculptures made in wood and terracotta and then colorfully painted, and with their dramatism, present stories related to the life, passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. So moving on, we then saw chapels 6, 7, 8, and 9, all relating still to Mary's life, the presentation of the Virgin, the marriage of the Virgin, the Annunciation, and the Visitation. Next up, we visited more chapels, all related to Jesus' life: numbers 10 through 20, with the Nativity, the Presentation, Christ among the Doctors, Agony in the Garden, the Flagellation, Crowning with Thorns, Way to Calvary, Wedding at Cana, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and the Ascension. Finally, the last three chapels, 21, 22, and 23 descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, also known as Pentecost, Assumption of Mary, and the Coronation of Mary in heaven, known as the Paradise Chapel. This latter one was probably the most amazing with its statues modeled on a spiralling direction upwards towards the top of the chapel. Right outside of it, as it was on the highest part, we also enjoyed a beautiful view of the complex and of the mountains all around in the distance. Once we were done visiting, we headed back down to the main square where the sanctuary church is located and decided to have lunch at the nearby restaurant, Ristorante Crea, where I had a tasty dish of gnocchi with local Castelmagno cheese. After lunch, we decided to stop at one last place, the town of Moncalvo, a short drive from there. After parking the car, we then continued on foot and visited the nice old town. As we walked through, we stopped to visit the 17th-century church of Sant'Antonio with some nice paintings inside dating to the 17th and 18th centuries. Outside the church, we continued our walk, passing by the 13th-century Gothic house, Casa Lanfrancone, and then reached the higher part of town where the Piazza Garibaldi is located. Here was the city theater built in 1878 on the site of the former 17th-century guardhouse, as well as part of what was once the medieval castle residence of the Marquis of Monferrato. Only the perimeter walls and towers remain, on top of one of which we then had a beautiful view of the town and mountains. We then walked around the rest of the town and visited the Santuario di Santa Teresa di Calcutta, built in the 18th century on a pre-existing 15th-century church. We completed the visit to the town by reaching the eastern end, where the church of St Francis was located, but found it closed. That meant then driving back to Alessandria for a nice dinner. 

The main square in Vignale Monferrato

A view from the upper part of the old town

The snow-capped Alps

A close up of the main church's statues and the Alps in the background

The church's facade

A view of the town of Casorzo

The sanctuary church of the Sacro Monte di Crea

Interior of the church

The medieval frescoes

The Wedding at Cana inside one of the chapels

One of the chapels from the outside

The chapel of the descent of the Holy Spirit

The last main chapel, the Paradise chapel

The magnificent interior of the Paradise chapel

View of the Alps from the Sacro Monte di Crea

A medieval house in Moncalvo

The main square

The old castle walls

A street in the old town

The church of San Francesco

Casale Monferrato & Lu Monferrato (24/12/2024)

On a nice sunny day we left to visit a couple of places north of Alessandria. Our first stop was the city of Casale Monferrato which we reached in just over half hour. Along the way, due to the crispy clear morning, we admired a beautiful view of the snow-capped mountains in the distance including the imposing 4,600m high Monte Rosa. Once in the city we parked right in the city center and then walked to explore the old town. We started out by visiting the church of Santa Caterina, a beautiful baroque building dating to the early 18th century. The interior was marvelous to look at, filled with marbels, altars, patingins and a decorated cupola. From the church we then headed deeper into the old town walking along some narrow streets sided by nice buildings. At one point we reached the large Piazza Mazzini with at its center the bronze equestrian monument to Charles Albert from 1843. Not far from there we then reached the Cathedral. In front of it, a small square, named Largo Monsignor Angrisani, caught our interest. He was Bishop of Casale from 1940 and 1971, and was actually a relative of my great grandfather. We then entered the Duomo of Sant'Evasio, which is one of the best examples of Lombard Romanesque buildings. Built in 1107 over a pre-exisiting 8th century church it was then refurbished between the 18th and 19th century but mostly retained its medieval aspect. It features a facade rebuilt during the 19th century sided by two towers. Inside, before the church nave proper, is the narthex with beautiful arches, quite unique in its style compared to others, and with old traces including some ancient roman columns. Then inside the nave we admired the decoration, dating mostly to the 19th century refurbishment, however with some altars and chapels dating to the 18th century in a baroque form. Additionally much older is the crucifix hanging above the main altar, an over two meter high wooden sculpture covered in silver and copper foil weighing 130kg and dating to the 12th century. Originally the crucifix was inside the Cathedral of Alessandria but it was stolen in 1403 by the by the mercenary captain Facino Cane. After visiting the cathedral we continued on our walk and reached another large church, San Domenico. Built at the beginning of the 16th century it features a mix of gothic and renaissance but unfortunately as we got there we found it closed. Right next to it stood another church, Mater Misericordiae, also closed but not functioning as a religious building since a while. We did find open though the tiny church of San Pietro also in the immediate vicinity with a nice 18th century frescoed interior. Continuing onwards on our walk we walked a larger street which featured a series of impressive and important palaces. We started out with Palazzo Sannazzaro, of late medieval origin but profoundly refurbished during the 18th century, and then passed by the baroque Palazzo Treville until we reached the church of San Paolo, which was closed, and in front of it the Palazzo San Giorgio, built at the end of the 18th century in a mix of Rococo and Neoclassicals stles. Moving on we reached another palace, Palazzo Langosco, which featured a nice courtyard once the 15th century cloister of the convent of Santa Croce. The palace now holds a museum and the local library. From there we walked through the main street and then headed westwards intending to visit the Jewish Museum. It is hosted inside the 16th century Jewish Synagogue which predates by more than a century the establishment of the jewish ghetto in the city in the early eighteenth century. Once established the community, which was now forced to live in a small tight area of the city, required more space for prayer and thus the synagogue was expanded and refurbished in its current baroque form. The jeiwsh population of the city was among the largest in the country. Unfortunately though we found the museum closed for that day so we couldn't see the synagogue. Moving on we reached the church of Santo Stefano with the civic tower annexed to it. The tower, reaching a height of 60m dominates the whole city and was originally built during the 11th century with an upper part and the clock added during the 16th century and the tip then added in the 18th century. The church is a 17th century building replacing an older 12th century church and features nice paintings from the 18th century as well as the main altar painting from the 16th century. At that point we headed back to the Mazzini square and decided to set down at the Krumireria Antica Drogheria Corino. This establishment makes krumiri, a typical cookie of the city. We had a hot chocolate with a classic krumiro, as well as trying some savory ones too. After the break we then continued on our walk through town and decided to try and visit the castle, located on the western side, where we had parked our car, now that the weekly market that was set around it was closing up. The castle was built in the 14th century and then expanded in the 15th and again 16th centuries and features outward fortifications known as rivelins and a low structure. We walked around it as it was closed and then headed back to the city. It was time to eat so we opted for the Locanda Rossignoli where we had a whole lunch menu with vitello tonnato as appetizer, agnolotti as first course, and bunet for dessert couple with a glass of wine. After lunch we headed back to the car and on the way home decided to take a more scenic drive through the Monferrato hills. We stopped at the hilltop town of Lu, and after parking the car started exploring on foot. We first passed by the church of San Giacomo which was closed and then the main church of Santa Maria Nuova, a 16th century gothic church with a baroque and neoclassical interior. A little further ahead we then reached a street sided by a balcony which granted an amazing view with the gentle rolling hills down below and the snow-covered Alps to the north and northwest. We could spot some small hilltop old towns dotting the landscape and the outline of the mountains including the imposing Monte Rosa in the distance. Then for an even better view we reached the top of the town where the 15th century civic tower sits. Here, as the sun was setting we enjoyed a really beautiful panorama and it was just the four of us which made it even more special. Then my dad let us know he had an acquaintance living in this town so he called him up and we went to meet him. He owns a small winery together with his family and he showed us the infernòt, a typical underground area found throughout the Monferrato hills room built once used as a cellar or like this case now as a wine storage. He showed us the tanks and the old wine barrels and then let us try some. Finally, after the nice meetup, it was time to drive back to Alessandria.

The church of Santa Caterina in Casale Monferrato

The cupola of the church

A street in the old town

The main square, Piazza Mazzini

The Duomo

The narthex

The interior and the crucifix from the 12th century

A street in the old town with the Palazzo Treville

A street in the old town with the church of San Paolo

The former cloister of the convent of Santa Croce

The civic tower

Interior of the church of Santo Stefano

The view from Lu Monferrato

Close up of the Monte Rosa

The civic tower

View of the old town