A LEGACY SPANNING A THOUSAND YEARS

a land to protect

Canavese’s geographical location has always made it a land of conquest and transit of armies.

Each era has left important historical traces: castles, towers, aristocratic palaces, and churches, scattered as much on the ridges of hills as in the center of urban cores.

Castles and towers, unfortunately, cannot all be visited: some are public, many are private. Everywhere, however, they are splendid protagonists of the Canavese landscape.

You should not miss visits to Aglié Castle, with its Italian garden and English-style park (a Savoy residence UNESCO site), and Masino Castle, owned by the FAI and nestled in its park, from which there is an unparalleled view.

not only history

And to discover the most scenic ones, we suggest an itinerary that touches on various landscape settings:

• Montalto Castle, a true fortress, dominates the entire 5 Lakes area from above: it can be reached by a walk through woods and vineyards;
• Ivrea Castle, in the upper part of the old town, with its 4 mighty towers, one of which has been severed (never was lightning more accurate in striking the very one that contained the ammunition and gunpowder!);
• Peacock Castle, which, with its crenellated walls and imposing donjon, towers over the town and, with its ricetti, gave shelter to the population during sieges;
• The Malgrà Castle in Rivarolo, set in an urban park and overlooking the banks of the Orco stream, with its drawbridge, mighty round tower, and portico with 15th-century frescoes;
• The Castle of San Giorgio, which belonged to the Biandrate family and is now a massive noble palace. Mazzé Castle, actually composed of two separate buildings overlooking the course of the Dora Baltea River;
• Moncrivello Castle, at the extreme eastern edge of Canavese, whose views sweep over the Vercelli plain.

And then many smaller ones, such as Foglizzo, Montanaro, Parella, Rivara, Ozegna.

Canavese Towers: Stone Sentinels

As for towers, anyone can grasp their function of defense, of sighting, of domination of one lineage over another. In many small villages you can find those built to defend the receptacles: in your wanderings around Canavese, you will find them in Torre, in Perosa, in Oglianico, in Levone, in Villareggia, in San Martino, in Romano, in San Benigno and in many other villages. Of an entirely different nature, however, are those in Pont Canavese, the Ferranda Tower and the Tellaria Tower, the Octagonal Tower in Chivasso, and those in Cuorgné.

Treasures of Art and Faith

But the real treasure chests are the churches, which hold architecture and works of art from all eras, scattered in every corner, in every town, however small, in the countryside, in mountain hamlets; symbols of ecclesiastical power over the centuries and, at the same time, of popular devotion.

The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta in Ivrea, with its mighty Romanesque bell towers and crypt. Fruttuaria Abbey in San Benigno Canavese, with its bell tower, archaeological excavations and 11th-century mosaics.

The Cathedral of Chivasso, as the people of Chivasso call it, with its Gothic terracotta masterpiece facade.

Art, Faith and Memory in the Heart of Canavese.

The Sanctuary of Belmonte, a splendid balcony over Canavese, with its Sacro Monte and the Church of San Giorgio in Valperga. The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Cirié, a beautiful example of Piedmontese Gothic, which holds some fine works of art; the Convent Church of St. Bernardino in Ivrea, with an admirable transept frescoed by Spanzotti in 1485.

Then there is the UNESCO-recognized industrial architecture of Ivrea, the Cavour Canal intake building in Chivasso, and many thematic museums such as the Garda Museum in Ivrea, with valuable collections of Oriental art, the Technologically Museum with collections of Olivetti machines, the Nossi Rais Historic Ethnographic Museum in San Giorgio, the Cannon-Sandretto Plastic Museum, and the Territorial Museum in Pont.