Tom`s travels: 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.