Regarding the towers, it’s easy to understand their function of defense, surveillance, and dominance of one house over another.
In many small villages, those built to defend the ricetti (medieval fortified granaries) can be found: in your wanderings through Canavese, you will find them in Torre, Perosa, Oglianico, Levone, Villareggia, San Martino, Romano, San Benigno, and many other towns.
However, the towers of Pont Canavese, the Ferranda Tower and the Tellaria Tower, the Octagonal Tower of Chivasso, and those of Cuorgnè are of a completely different nature.
But the real treasures are the churches, which house architecture and artworks from all eras, scattered in every corner, in every populated center, no matter how small, in the countryside, in mountain hamlets; symbols of ecclesiastical power over the centuries and, at the same time, of popular devotion.
The Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta in Ivrea, with its mighty Romanesque bell towers and crypt. The Abbazia di Fruttuaria in San Benigno Canavese, with its bell tower, archaeological excavations, and 11th-century mosaics.
The Duomo di Chivasso, as the locals call it, with its gothic terracotta masterpiece facade.
The Santuario di Belmonte, a splendid balcony over Canavese, with its Sacred Mount. The Duomo di San Giovanni Battista in Cirié, a beautiful example of Piedmontese Gothic architecture, housing several valuable artworks, the church of the Convento di San Bernardino in Ivrea, with a remarkable transept frescoed by Spanzotti in 1485.
And then the industrial architectures of Ivrea, recognized by UNESCO, the intake building of the Cavour Canal in Chivasso, and various thematic museums such as the Museo Garda in Ivrea, with precious collections of Oriental art, the Museo Tecnologic@mente with collections of Olivetti machines, the Museo Storico Etnografico Nòssi Ràis in San Giorgio, the Museo della Plastica Cannon-Sandretto and the Museo del Territorio in Pont.
