Pinerolo (; pms, Pinareul ; french: Pignerol; oc, Pineròl) is a town and '' comune'' in the

Metropolitan City of Turin The Metropolitan City of Turin ( it, Città metropolitana di Torino, Piedmontese: ''Sità metropolitan-a 'd Turin'') is a metropolitan city in the Piedmont region, Italy. Its capital is the city of Turin. It replaced the Province of Turin and co ...

, Piedmont, northwestern Italy, southwest of Turin on the river Chisone. The

Lemina Lemina is a torrent in Piedmont, north-western Italy. Geography Lemina source is at 1,382 m above sea level at Monte Faiè, a peak of Monte Freidour in the central Cottian Alps, at the boundary between the communal territories of Piner ...

torrent has its source at the boundary between Pinerolo and

San Pietro Val di Lemina San Pietro Val Lemina (French: Saint-Pierre) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, part of the Piedmont region, northern Italy. It takes its name from the Lemina Lemina is a torrent in Piedmont, north-western Italy. Geogra ...

History

Archaeological remains found in the center of Pinerolo in the early 1970s testify the human presence in the area in prehistoric times Remains of the Roman

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

of Dama Rossa, found during works for the Pinerolo-Turin highway in 2003, show that the area at the time was the seat of agricultural activities The toponym of Pinerolo appears only in the Middle Ages, in an imperial diplom dating from 981, by which Otto II confirmed its possession, within the March of Turin, to the

Bishops of Turin The Archdiocese of Turin ( la, Archidioecesis Taurinensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory of the Catholic Church in Italy.dukes of Savoy. Its military importance was the origin of the well-known military school that still exists today. The fortress of Fenestrelle is nearby. Later, Pinerolo was ruled by the abbot nullius of Pinerolo, who ran the abbey of Abbadia Alpina, even after the city had established itself as a municipality (1247) under the government of

Thomas II of Savoy Thomas II (c. 1199 – 7 February 1259) was the Lord of Piedmont from 1233 to his death, Count of Flanders ''jure uxoris'' from 1237 to 1244, and regent of the County of Savoy from 1253 to his death, while his nephew Boniface, Count of Savoy, B ...

. From 1235, Amadeus IV of Savoy exercised over the town a kind of protectorate, which became absolute in 1243, and was continued thereafter by either the House of Savoy, or its cadet-branch, the House of Savoy-Acaia. When French troops invaded Piedmont (1536), Pinerolo was conquered; it remained under French control until 1574. It fell again to France in 1631 with the treaty of Cherasco. France agreed to hand Pinerolo back to the house of Savoy under the Treaty of Turin (1696), with the conditions that its stronghold's fortifications be demolished and that Savoy withdraw from the League of Augsburg against Louis XIV.

Economy

The economy of the Waldensian Valleys (right slope of Val Chisone,

Valle Germanasca The Valle Germanasca is a valley in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, north-western Italy run by the Germanasca stream, a right affluent of the Chisone. The valley, in the past affected by a strong depopulation, is now partially charact ...

and Val Pellice) and of the plain between these valleys and the

Po (river) The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. Th ...

course revolves around Pinerolo. Several industries have their base in this area, particularly mechanical, paper making, chemical and textile industries, and also absorb manpower from the nearby population centers. The leading companies are Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (former Corcos), which produces seals for rotating shafts and valves sterns, Raspini, a meat processing company, TN Italy (former NN Inc.), which manufactures ball bearings, the Trombini Group (ex Annovati), which supplies the furniture industry with chipboard, and PMT Italia, which supplies the pulp and paper industry with paper machines. Moreover, Pinerolo is the trade center of the surrounding mountain area. The agriculture and the breeding of the livestock are conducted with advanced techniques. Pinerolo is the centre of the community called Comunità Montana Pinerolese Pedemontano, and the reference city for three valleys: Val Chisone, and . Pinerolo is famous for being the house city of the first society of mutual help, foundend in 1848. Today, it is still active and also hosts a museum, the Museo Storico del Mutuo Soccorso with historic archives and a library. Health assistance is guaranteed by the Civil Hospital of Pinerolo Ospedale E. Agnelli and by a network of public and private health assistance centres. The Public assistance is inserted in the bigger frame of the Local Sanitary Company (or Azienda Sanitaria Locale ASL TO3).

Main sights

*''

Pinerolo Cathedral Pinerolo Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Pinerolo; Cattedrale di San Donato) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Pinerolo, Piedmont, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Eu ...

'': 9th century Roman Catholic church with a Romanesque bell tower and a Gothic façade (restored after the 1808 earthquake) *''San Maurizio'':

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style church *Galup factory, which is famous for the local sweets and cake *Historical center *Train station *Town hall *Historic Museum of Mutual Help *Museum of Chivalry

People

People born in Pinerolo include: * Lidia Poët (1855-1949), the first Italian female lawyer and an important figure in female emancipation *

Luigi Facta Luigi Facta (16 November 1861 – 5 November 1930) was an Italian politician, lawyer and journalist and the last Prime Minister of Italy before the leadership of Benito Mussolini. Background and earlier career Facta was born in Pinerolo, Piedm ...

(1861-1930), politician, journalist and last Prime Minister of Italy before the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini * Ferruccio Parri (1890-1981),

partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy for several months in 1945 *

Patrizia Polliotto Patrizia Polliotto is an Italian corporate lawyer and entrepreneur. She is president of the UNC Piedmont regional committee. Background and education Polliotto was born on March 21, 1962, in Pinerolo, Turin, Piedmont, in the Northwestern regio ...

(1962-), Italian corporate lawyer, entrepreneur *

Fabio Miretti Fabio Miretti (born 3 August 2003) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Juventus FC, Juventus and the Italy national football team, Italy national team. Miretti joined Auxilium Saluzzo ...

(2003-), professional football player who currently plays as a midfielder for club

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

People who died here include: * Anna Canalis di Cumiana (1680-1769) ( morganatic spouse of King Victor Amadeus) died in the convent here. * Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux, (1615–1680)

superintendent of Finances The Superintendent of Finances (french: Surintendant des finances) was the name of the minister in charge of finances in France from 1561 to 1661. The position was abolished in 1661 with the downfall of Nicolas Fouquet, and a new position was cr ...

in France under Louis XIV, was imprisoned in ''Pignerol'' from 1665 until his death in 1680. * David Llewellyn Snellgrove (29 June 1920 - 25 March 2016), a British Tibetologist noted for his pioneering work on Buddhism in Tibet as well as his many travelogues. *The " Man in the Iron Mask" was imprisoned in Pinerolo starting from 1669. * The Venerable

Bruno Lanteri Pio Bruno Pancrazio Lanteri, or simply Bruno Lanteri (12 May 1759 – 5 August 1830), was a Catholic priest and founder of the religious congregation of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia in northwestern Italy in ...

, priest and founder of the

Oblates of the Virgin Mary The Oblates of the Virgin Mary (Italian: ''Oblati di Maria Vergine'') is a religious institute of priests and brothers founded by Bruno Lanteri (1759–1830) in the Kingdom of Sardinia in the early 19th century. The institute is characterized by a ...

, died here in 1830.

Sports

The venue

Pinerolo Palaghiaccio Pinerolo Palaghiaccio is a 2000-seat indoor arena located in Pinerolo, Italy. The venue hosted the Curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics, curling competitions for the 2006 Winter Olympics in neighbouring Turin. References2006 Winter Olympics offici ...

hosted curling events at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

.2006 Winter Olympics official report.
Volume 3. pp. 68-9. The

2011 Tour de France The 2011 Tour de France was the 98th edition of the race. It started on 2 July at the Passage du Gois and ended on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 24 July. The cyclists competed in 21 stages over 23 days, covering a distance of . The route en ...

featured a stage in the area. The Uruguayan football team Peñarol takes its name from the

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

neighbourhood of Peñarol, which in turn takes its name from this town.

Twin cities

* Gap, France, since 1963 *

Traunstein Traunstein (Central Bavarian: ''Traunstoa'') is a town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany, and is the administrative center of a much larger district of the same name. The town serves as a local government, retail, health services, ...

, Germany, since 1986 * San Francisco, Argentina, since 1996 * Derventa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, since 2005

References

{{authority control Venues of the 2006 Winter Olympics