Carmagnola
Encyclopedia
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
(municipality) in the Province of Turin
Province of Turin
The Province of Turin is a province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Turin.It has an area of 6,830 km², and a total population of 2,277,686 . There are 315 comuni in the province – the most of any province in Italy...
in the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
region Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
, located 29 km south of Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
. As of July 11, 2007, it had a population of 27,043 and an area of 96.4 km².
The municipality of Carmagnola contains the frazioni
Frazione
A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...
(subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) San Bernardo, Salsasio, San Giovanni, San Michele Grato, Cappuccini, Casanova, Tuninetti, Vallongo, and Motta e Corno.
Carmagnola borders the following municipalities: Poirino
Poirino
Poirino is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 20 km southeast of Turin.Poirino borders the following municipalities: Chieri, Riva presso Chieri, Villanova d'Asti, Santena, Villastellone, Isolabella, Cellarengo, Pralormo, Ceresole Alba, and...
, Villastellone
Villastellone
Villastellone is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 15 km south of Turin....
, Carignano
Carignano
Carignano is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 20 km south of Turin. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 8,777 and an area of 50.2 km².-Geography:...
, Lombriasco
Lombriasco
Lombriasco is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 25 km south of Turin....
, Ceresole Alba
Ceresole Alba
Ceresole Alba is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 30 km southeast of Turin and about 50 km northeast of Cuneo...
, Racconigi
Racconigi
Racconigi is a town and comune in Piedmont, Italy. It is located in the province of Cuneo, south of Turin, and north of Cuneo by rail.The economy is mostly based on agriculture, production of milk and meat, and industrial working of metal sheets....
, Sommariva del Bosco
Sommariva del Bosco
Sommariva del Bosco is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 35 km south of Turin and about 45 km northeast of Cuneo...
, Caramagna Piemonte
Caramagna Piemonte
Caramagna Piemonte is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 30 km south of Turin and about 45 km northeast of Cuneo...
.
History
The municipality was founded during the 11th century. The land, originally owned by the ArduinicArduinici
The Arduinici were a noble Frankish family that immigrated to Italy in the early tenth century, possibly from Neustria. They were descended from and take their name after one Arduin ....
dynasty, passed to the Marquisate of Saluzzo
Marquisate of Saluzzo
The Marquisate of Saluzzo was an historical Italian state that included French and Piedmont territories on the Alps.-Marquisate territories:The Marquisate of Saluzzo occupied parts of the provinces of Cuneo and Turin, and at times areas now under French control. However, Saluzzo was historically...
, who had a castle built here. The Saluzzo dynasty soon underwent a rapid decadence ending with a French domination period which lasted 40 years. In 1588 Carmagnola became a possession of the House of Savoy
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
, when Charles Emmanuel I
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy
Charles Emmanuel I , known as the Great, was the Duke of Savoy from 1580 to 1630...
besieged and conquered it. French took possession of Carmagnola a second time during the 17th century, during the civil war between Madamisti and Principisti (supporters of the French and the Savoy dynasty respectively). In this period (1637-1642), the three main subdivisions were raised to the ground as they were conflicting with the defence structures, and immediately re-built around 1.5 km from their original position, where they still are at the present time.
In 1690 the city was once again occupied by the French general Catinat, but just one year later Victor Amadeus II of Savoy brought it back among Piedmontese
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
possessions. While its defence buildings were being demolished and its strategic role was progressively decreasing in importance, the town could finally develop agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and commerce
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
, mainly of hemp
Hemp
Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...
and rope
Rope
A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...
s, which were exported in great quantity to Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
and souther France. The characteristic of both agricultural and commercial site remained important until after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, which caused a massive immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
and a rapid urbanistic
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
expansion.
Geographical position
The town is on the right side of the Po riverPo River
The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...
. The nature of the soil determined, as time was passing, the accumulation of the river sands.
Economy
The economy of the town is currently linked to the industry and intensive production of vegetableVegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s and cereal
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
s, which the particular soil makes very productive. Industry experienced a notable growth during 1960s, when FIAT
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
opened an important factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
, thus attracting a growing number of immigrants from southern Italy. The rapid growth of FIAT made also possible other activities in the metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
, electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
, optics
Optics
Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...
, chemical industry
Chemical industry
The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials into more than 70,000 different products.-Products:...
, and food industry
Food industry
The food production is a complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population...
fields.
Also well-developed are the banking, financial
FINANCIAL
FINANCIAL is the weekly English-language newspaper with offices in Tbilisi, Georgia and Kiev, Ukraine. Published by Intelligence Group LLC, FINANCIAL is focused on opinion leaders and top business decision-makers; It's about world’s largest companies, investing, careers, and small business. It is...
and insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
sectors.
Notable citizens
- Francesco Bussone da CarmagnolaFrancesco Bussone da CarmagnolaFrancesco Bussone, often called Count of Carmagnola , was an Italian condottiero.- Biography :Francesco Bussone was born at Carmagnola, near Turin, in a humble peasant family....
, better known as Il Carmagnola - Renaissance condottiero. - Enrico SaroldiEnrico SaroldiEnrico Saroldi was an Italian sculptor. He was primarily a monumental sculptor, and his works may be seen throughout Italy in churches and public places. Saroldi studed at the Brera in Milan under Enrico Butti, and lived and worked in Milan for the duration of his career.-Reference:, 1910....
- sculptor
Feasts and celebrations
- Peppers Fair. It is held between the last week of August and the first of September; it is an enoWineWine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
-gastronomicGastronomyGastronomy is the art or science of food eating. Also, it can be defined as the study of food and culture, with a particular focus on gourmet cuisine...
fair dedicated to the most typical product of Carmagnola's agriculture. It attracts over 250,000 visitors each year. - Spring Fair, Fiera di primavera. Held annually in March, dedicated to agricultural commerce, it features many collateral events.
Twin towns
- Opatija
OpatijaOpatija is a town in western Croatia, just southwest of Rijeka on the Adriatic coast. , the town proper had a population of 7,850, with the municipality having a total 12,719 inhabitants.-Geography:...
, CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ... - Río Tercero, Argentina
ArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...