Province CN
Bra, CN
A town in the Roero between the Langhe and Turin, best known as the birthplace of the Slow Food movement and the seat of its University of Gastronomic Sciences at nearby Pollenzo. It has a compact late baroque centre and a food culture that outruns its size.
Sights
- Chiesa di Santa Chiara, a late baroque church by Bernardo Antonio Vittone with an elaborate double-shell dome
- Chiesa di Sant'Andrea, whose facade is attributed to a design by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
- La Zizzola, the 19th-century folly on the hill above town, now a small civic museum and viewpoint
- Pollenzo, Roman Pollentia, with the visible amphitheatre outline and the 19th-century neo-Gothic Savoy complex
- Banca del Vino, the cellar and wine archive in the Pollenzo complex
Things to do
- Order salsiccia di Bra, a veal sausage traditionally eaten raw
- Walk up to La Zizzola for the view over the Roero and the Alps
- Go out to Pollenzo, fifteen minutes from the centre, for the Roman layer and the gastronomic campus
Annual events
September, odd years only
Cheese
Slow Food's international raw-milk cheese event. It is biennial and falls in odd-numbered years, not every year.
When to visit
September, especially in a Cheese year. Otherwise late spring for the Roero countryside.
