Bra (, ) is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Cuneo Cuneo (Italian), or Coni (Piedmontese), 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 ( departments of Alpes-Maritimes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Haut ...

in the northwest

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

region of

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. It is situated southeast of

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

and northeast of

Cuneo Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...

in the area known as

Roero Roero (; pms, Roé ) is a geographical area in the north-east corner of the province of Cuneo in Piedmont, north-west Italy. This hilly region is known for its wines and for its fruit production: particularly the peaches of Canale and the local ...

. Bra is the birthplace of the feminist philosopher Adriana Cavarero, politician

Emma Bonino Emma Bonino (born 9 March 1948) is an Italian politician. A senator for Rome, she served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2014. Previously, she was a Member of the European Parliament and a member of the Chamber of Deputies. She serve ...

, and of the activist

Carlo Petrini Carlo Petrini (born 22 June 1949), born in the commune of Bra, province of Cuneo, Italy, is the founder of the International Slow Food Movement. He first came to prominence in the 1980s for taking part in a campaign against the fast food chain ...

, founder of the

Slow Food Slow Food is an organization that promotes local food and traditional cooking. It was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986 and has since spread worldwide. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and regi ...

movement and of the world's first

University of Gastronomic Sciences The University of Gastronomic Sciences (UNISG) is an international university located in northern Italy. The campus is in Pollenzo, near Bra, a city in the north-west region of Piedmont. Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food Movement, establish ...

, whose main campus is located within Bra's municipal boundaries at

Pollenzo 250px, Church of San Vittore at Pollenzo. Pollentia, known today as Pollenzo ( pms, Polèns), was an ancient city on the left bank of the Tanaro. It is now a ''frazione'' (parish) of Bra in the Province of Cuneo, Piedmont, northern Italy. In an ...

. Bra is also home to "Cheese", a biennial international festival organised by Slow Food which features the makers of artisanal cheeses from around the world. In 1997 the event attracted some 150,000 visitors. Among the structures in town is the intricately domed church of Santa Chiara by the late-Baroque architect,

Bernardo Antonio Vittone Parish Church of Grignasco Bernardo Antonio Vittone (19 August 1704 – 19 October 1770) was an Italian architect and writer. He was one of the three most important Baroque architects active in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy; the other tw ...

and the church of St. Andrew, the facade of which was designed by the architect

Gian Lorenzo Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, , ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 159828 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his ...

, although not completed until two centuries later. The town is famous for its gastronomy and the production of

Bra sausage Bra sausage (in Piedmontese ''sautissa ëd Bra'') is a sausage recognized as an Italian Traditional Agri-food Product (Prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale, P.A.T.). The sausage is produced in Piedmont, exclusively in the city of Bra, Piedmont, ...

a veal sausage originally made for the Jewish inhabitants of neighbouring

Cherasco Cherasco is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian ...

. It is usually eaten raw.Commune de Bra
/ref>

Twin towns

Spreitenbach Spreitenbach (High Alemannic: ''Spräitebach'') is a municipality in the district of Baden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal''). It lies southeast of the district center, directly on the ...

, Switzerland *

Weil der Stadt Weil der Stadt is a town of about 19,000 inhabitants in the Stuttgart Region of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is about west of Stuttgart city centre, in the valley of the River Würm, and is often called the "Gate to the Black Fore ...

, Germany *

San Sosti San Sosti ( Calabrian: ; from ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza, in Calabria, southern Italy. History A highly decorated bronze axe-head was discovered near San Sosti in 1846. This votive offering was later bought by the collector a ...

, Italy *

Corral de Bustos Corral de Bustos is a town in Argentina located in the district of Marcos Juárez, in the south east of the Province of Córdoba. History The town of Corral de Bustos-Ifflinger was founded in the early Twentieth Century, when the German Carl ...

, Argentina

Notes

Cittaslow Roero Cities and towns in Piedmont {{Cuneo-geo-stub