Cuneo
Encyclopedia
Cuneo is a city and comune
in Piedmont
, Northern Italy
, the capital of the province of Cuneo
, the third largest of Italy
’s provinces by area. It is located at the foot of the Maritime Alps
, on the Stura di Demonte
river where it emerges from the Valle Stura, and neighbours the municipalities of Boves
, Busca
, Cervasca
, Vignolo
, Beinette
, Peveragno
, Castelletto Stura
, Caraglio
and Tarantasca
.
and the marquisses of Montferrat and Saluzzo
. In 1210 the latter occupied it, and in 1231 the Cuneesi rebelled. In 1238 they were recognized as free commune by Emperor Frederick II
.
In 1259 the independence of Cuneo ceased forever, as it gave itself, also to take protection against its more powerful neighbours, to Charles I of Anjou, who was then King of Naples and Count of Provence. Together with Alba
, it was the main Angevine possession in northern Italy; their rule (in fact interrupted by periods under Saluzzo, Savoy, the Visconti
of Milan) ended in 1382 when Cuneo was acquired by the Duchy of Savoy
.
Cuneo became an important stronghold of the expanding Savoy state, and was thus besieged by France several times: first in 1515 by Swiss troops of Francis I of France
, then again in 1542, 1557, 1639, 1641, 1691 and, during the War of Austrian Succession, in 1741. In all the sieges Cuneo resisted successfully. Cuneo was conquered by France only during the Napoleonic Wars
, when it was made the capital of the Stura
dèpartment. After the restoration of the Kingdom of Sardinia
, and the unification of Italy, Cuneo became the capital of its namesake province in 1859.
During World War II
, from 1943 to 1945, it was one of the main centres of partisan resistance against the German occupation of Italy.
in 1954.
, France Chambéry
, France
Cuneo is also twinned with the contrada della Selva of Siena
, Italy.
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:...
in 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...
, Northern Italy
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
, the capital of the province of Cuneo
Province of Cuneo
ayr is a province in the southwest of the Piedmont region of Italy. To the west it borders on the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ....
, the third largest of Italy
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...
’s provinces by area. It is located at the foot of the Maritime Alps
Maritime Alps
The Maritime Alps are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between the French département Alpes-Maritimes and the Italian province of Cuneo. The Col de Tende separates them from the Ligurian Alps; the Maddalena Pass separates them from the Cottian Alps...
, on the Stura di Demonte
Stura di Demonte
Stura di Demonte is a 111 km long river in northwestern Italy . It is a tributary to the river Tanaro, which is a tributary of the river Po. Its source is in the Alps, near the border with France. It flows through Demonte and Cuneo before joining the Tanaro just east of Cherasco....
river where it emerges from the Valle Stura, and neighbours the municipalities of Boves
Boves
Boves is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 km south of Turin and about 6 km south of Cuneo...
, Busca
Busca
Busca is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 60 km southwest of Turin and about 15 km northwest of Cuneo...
, Cervasca
Cervasca
Cervasca is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 km south of Turin and about 7 km west of Cuneo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,360 and an area of 18.3 km²....
, Vignolo
Vignolo
Vignolo is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 km south of Turin and about 7 km southwest of Cuneo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,112 and an area of 8.1 km²....
, Beinette
Beinette
Beinette is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 km south of Turin and about 8 km east of Cuneo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,898 and an area of 17.4 km²....
, Peveragno
Peveragno
Peveragno is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 km south of Turin and about 8 km southeast of Cuneo....
, Castelletto Stura
Castelletto Stura
Castelletto Stura is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 70 km south of Turin and about 10 km northeast of Cuneo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,179 and an area of 16.6 km².Castelletto Stura borders the following...
, Caraglio
Caraglio
Caraglio is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 km southwest of Turin and about 10 km northwest of Cuneo...
and Tarantasca
Tarantasca
Tarantasca is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 60 km south of Turin and about 13 km north of Cuneo...
.
History
Cuneo was founded in 1198 by the local population, who declared it an independent commune, freeing themselves from the authority of the bishops of AstiAsti
Asti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...
and the marquisses of Montferrat and 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...
. In 1210 the latter occupied it, and in 1231 the Cuneesi rebelled. In 1238 they were recognized as free commune by Emperor Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
.
In 1259 the independence of Cuneo ceased forever, as it gave itself, also to take protection against its more powerful neighbours, to Charles I of Anjou, who was then King of Naples and Count of Provence. Together with Alba
Alba, Italy
Alba is a town and comune of Piedmont, Italy, in the province of Cuneo. It is considered the capital of the hilly area of Langhe, and is famous for its white truffle, peach and wine production...
, it was the main Angevine possession in northern Italy; their rule (in fact interrupted by periods under Saluzzo, Savoy, the Visconti
House of Visconti
Visconti is the family name of two important Italian noble dynasties of the Middle Ages. There are two distinct Visconti families: The first one in the Republic of Pisa in the mid twelfth century who achieved prominence first in Pisa, then in Sardinia where they became rulers of Gallura...
of Milan) ended in 1382 when Cuneo was acquired by the Duchy of Savoy
Duchy of Savoy
From 1416 to 1847, the House of Savoy ruled the eponymous Duchy of Savoy . The Duchy was a state in the northern part of the Italian Peninsula, with some territories that are now in France. It was a continuation of the County of Savoy...
.
Cuneo became an important stronghold of the expanding Savoy state, and was thus besieged by France several times: first in 1515 by Swiss troops of Francis I of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
, then again in 1542, 1557, 1639, 1641, 1691 and, during the War of Austrian Succession, in 1741. In all the sieges Cuneo resisted successfully. Cuneo was conquered by France only during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, when it was made the capital of the Stura
Stura
Stura was a département of the First French Empire in present Italy. It was named after the river Stura di Demonte. It was formed in 1802, when Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the Kingdom of Sardinia. Its capital was Cuneo. It was divided into the arrondissements of Cuneo, Alba, Mondovì, Saluzzo, and...
dèpartment. After the restoration of the Kingdom of Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
, and the unification of Italy, Cuneo became the capital of its namesake province in 1859.
During 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...
, from 1943 to 1945, it was one of the main centres of partisan resistance against the German occupation of Italy.
Main sights
- Villa Oldofredi Tadini, built in the 14th-15th century as a watchtower. It is now a museum housing collections of the owners, the Mocchia and Oldofredi Tadini families.
- Villa Tornaforte, surrounded by an English-style park.
- Civic Museum
- Railway Museum
- Churches of Santa Croce, San Giovanni Decollato and Santissima Annunziata, housing paintings by Giovan Francesco Gaggini.
Notable people
- Annibale Santorre di Rossi de Pomarolo, Count of SantarosaAnnibale Santorre di Rossi de Pomarolo, Count of SantarosaSantorre Annibale De Rossi di Pomerolo, Count of Santa Rosa was an Italian insurgent and leader in the revival of Italy.thumb|250px|left|Statue of Santarosa in Savigliano.-Biography:...
(1783–1825), early Risorgimento leader. - Franco Andrea BonelliFranco Andrea BonelliFranco Andrea Bonelli was an Italian ornithologist, entomologist and collector.-Life:Very little is known about the early life of Bonelli: he was born in Cuneo and was interested from an early age in the fauna which surrounded him, making collecting trips, preparing specimens and noting his...
(1784–1830), ornithologist, entomologist and collector. - Giuseppe PeanoGiuseppe PeanoGiuseppe Peano was an Italian mathematician, whose work was of philosophical value. The author of over 200 books and papers, he was a founder of mathematical logic and set theory, to which he contributed much notation. The standard axiomatization of the natural numbers is named the Peano axioms in...
(1858–1932), mathematician. - Giorgio Federico GhediniGiorgio Federico GhediniGiorgio Federico Ghedini was an Italian composer.-Life:Ghedini was born in Cuneo in 1892. He studied organ, piano and composition in Turin, then graduated in composition in Bologna under Marco Enrico Bossi in 1911...
(1892–1965), composer. - Tancredi "Duccio" Galimberti (in Italian) (1906–1944), a lawyer, against fascists, Italian National Hero.
- Nuto RevelliNuto RevelliNuto Revelli was an Italian essayist.-Life:Revelli was a freshly commissioned second lieutenant when, on 21 July 1942, he left Italy on one of the two hundred troop trains sent to the Eastern Front by Mussolini in an attempt to ensure that fascist Italy would share in what, at the time, with the...
(1919–2004), partisan and writer. - Alviero MartiniAlviero MartiniAlviero Martini is an Italian fashion designer who was born in Cuneo and is known for the 1A Classe range of clothing and accessories that is characterised by a "map" motif.-External links:...
(born c.1940), fashion designer. - Cesare DamianoCesare DamianoCesare Damiano is an Italian politician, member of the Democrats of the Left party.A former leading member of the CGIL trade union, Damiano has been a part of the Democrats of the Left national secretarship since 2001. He is a former Minister of Labour.-References:...
(born 1948), politician. - Carlo PetriniCarlo PetriniCarlo Petrini , born in the province of Cuneo in the commune of Bra in Italy, is the founder of the International Slow Food Movement...
(born 22 June 1949), born in the province of Cuneo in the commune of Bra in Italy, is the founder of the International Slow Food Movement. In 2004, he founded the University of Gastronomic Sciences, a school intended to bridge the gap between agriculture and gastronomy. - Piergiorgio OdifreddiPiergiorgio OdifreddiPiergiorgio Odifreddi , is an Italian mathematician, logician and aficionado of the history of science, who is also extremely active as a popular science writer and essayist, especially in a perspective of philosophical atheism as a member of the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and...
(born 1950), mathematician, logician and aficionado of the history of science. - Livia TurcoLivia TurcoLivia Turco is an Italian politician, member of the Democratic Party .She came from a working class background in Morozzo, Cuneo and studied in Cuneo and Torino. In Torino she began her political career by becoming onvolved with the communist party, becoming a deputy in 1987...
(born 1955), politician.
Cuisine and food
Cuneo's specialty is Cuneesi al rhum, chocolates with a unique rum-based filling. The most famous brand is Arione, located in Piazza Galimberti (the city's central square). Arione, founded in 1923, has kept its traditional furniture and old world appearance to this day, projecting timeless old-fashioned elegance. Many famous people have stopped by to taste the famous Cuneesi al rhum, including the famous writer Ernest HemingwayErnest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
in 1954.
Twinnings
Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz, Argentina NiceNice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, France Chambéry
Chambéry
Chambéry is a city in the department of Savoie, located in the Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France.It is the capital of the department and has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V of Savoy made the city his seat of power.-Geography:Chambéry...
, France
Cuneo is also twinned with the contrada della Selva of Siena
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
, Italy.
External links
- Cuneo homepage, comune.cuneo.it
- Giornale di informazione della Provincia di Cuneo, grandain.com
- Parco Fluviale Gesso e Stura, parcofluviale.cuneo.it