Province CN
Saluzzo, CN
A hill town in the Cuneo province, capital of an independent marquisate from 1142 until 1548 before Savoy absorbed it in 1601. That independence left a dense upper town of late Gothic and Renaissance building, and the town looks straight out at Monviso across an intensively farmed fruit-growing plain.
Sights
- La Castiglia, the marquises' castle, later a prison, now museums and exhibition space
- The cathedral of 1491 to 1501, late Gothic with a baroque high altar and a 14th-century wooden crucifix
- Casa Cavassa, a Renaissance palazzo and now the civic museum, with painted rooms and period interiors
- Chiesa di San Giovanni, a Dominican church begun in 1330, with the Renaissance funerary chapel of Marquis Ludovico II
- The old town hall and its climbable Torre Civica, looking out to Monviso
Things to do
- Climb the Torre Civica, the plain-to-Monviso view is the clearest orientation to the whole marquisate
- Walk or cycle out to the hamlet of Castellar through the orchards
- Go to the town market for local fruit, the Saluzzo plain is one of Italy's main apple and peach zones
Annual events
April to June
START
An umbrella festival with three strands: a crafts exhibition, a national antiques fair at La Castiglia and contemporary art across the town.
October
Festa del Libro Medievale e Antico
Festival on the Middle Ages with lectures, screenings and a prize ceremony.
Late autumn
Uvernada
Occitan music and traditional crafts, marking the turn into winter.
When to visit
May or June for START and the orchards in leaf, October for the book festival.
