Montanera is a ''

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 ...

'' (municipality) 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

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

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

, located about south of

Turin Turin ( , 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 from 1861 to 1865. The ...

and about 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 ...

Montanera borders the following municipalities:

Castelletto Stura Castelletto Stura is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about northeast of Cuneo. Castelletto Stura borders the following municipalities: Centallo, Cuneo, Montan ...

Centallo Centallo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about north of Cuneo. The municipality of Centallo contains the ''frazioni'' (subdivisions, mainly villages and ham ...

Fossano Fossano ( pms, Fossan) is a town and ''comune'' of Piedmont, northern Italy. It is the fourth largest town of the Province of Cuneo, after Cuneo, Alba and Bra. It lies on the main railway line from Turin to Cuneo and to Savona, and has a branch l ...

Morozzo Morozzo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about northeast of Cuneo. Morozzo borders the following municipalities: Beinette, Castelletto Stura, Cuneo, Margar ...

, and Sant'Albano Stura.

History

Montanera was founded by the monks of Valcasotto at the beginning of XIII century. The first houses surrounded the pre-existing chapel of Madonna Assunta, popularly called Madonna Lunga. The name of the village can be found in some documents dated 1240-1241 of the Certosa di Valcasotto associated with the words "Locus dicitur praedialis", which means group of farms. In 1360s Montanera was destroyed by a band of soldiers, called the White Company, which invaded all the surrounding territories. In 1424 the village came back to life on the will of

. The new town was built in the area called "Villa" nowadays, a safer and easier place to defend as close to the river

Stura Stura was a department of the French Consulate and of the First French Empire in present-day Italy. It was named after the river Stura di Demonte. It was formed in 1802, when the Subalpine Republic (formerly the mainland portion of the Kingdo ...

. Between 1619 and 1621 Montanera was entrusted in feud, together with the nearby

, by the Duke of Savoy Carlo Emanuele I to Amedeo Ponte, Count of Scarnafigi. Together with Cuneo and the nearby areas, the village in 1796 was under French jurisdiction with

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

as a leader. Starting from the year 1851 there was a school for girls and boys. In 1865 a daily horse-drawn car service was offered to reach Cuneo, to give the opportunity to the villagers to move from Montanera. Then, the service was enlarged adding as destinations also

and Mondovì. As far as river transport is concerned, to reach Murazzo, located on the opposite bank of the river, the municipality in 1813 began to use a ferry received by the French government. Panoramic view of Montanera

The last Marquises of Montanera were the Tapparelli d'Azeglio, among whom the great scholar Massimo d'Azeglio.

Monuments

Nassiriya War memorial

On 2nd and 3 May 2015 Montanera celebrated the 100th anniversary of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the 70th anniversary of the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, hosting a gathering of the Alpini of Mondovì, to inaugurate the War Memorial of Nassiriya, a sculptural work by the artist Michelangelo Tallone of Paesana, to commemorate the last fallen on mission of Peace in Nassiriya.

Twin towns — sister cities

Montanera is twinned with: *

Vall de Boí The Vall de Boí () is a narrow, steep-sided valley and a small municipality in the province of Lleida, in the autonomous community of Catalonia, northern Spain. It lies in the northeastern corner of the comarca of Alta Ribagorça, on the edges ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

References

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