Saluzzo (; pms, Salusse ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the

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

region,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are found in the surrounding mountains. On January 1, 2017 it had a population of 16,968. Saluzzo was the birthplace of the writer Silvio Pellico and of typographer Giambattista Bodoni.

History

Saluzzo (Salusse in

Piedmontese Piedmontese (; autonym: or , in it, piemontese) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, northwestern region of Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate language, in Italy it is often mistakenly regard ...

) was a ''civitas'' (tribal city state) of the Vagienni, or mountain

Ligures The Ligures (singular Ligur; Italian: liguri; English: Ligurians) were an ancient people after whom Liguria, a region of present-day north-western Italy, is named. Ancient Liguria corresponded more or less to the current Italian reg ...

, and later of the Salluvii. This district was brought under Roman control by the Consul

Marcus Fulvius The gens Fulvia, originally Foulvia, was one of the most illustrious plebeian families at ancient Rome. Members of this gens first came to prominence during the middle Republic; the first to attain the consulship was Lucius Fulvius Curvus in 322 B ...

circa 125BC. In the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippi ...

age it became the residence of a

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New Yor ...

; later, having passed to the Marquesses of

Susa Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...

, Manfred I, son of Marquess Bonifacio del Vasto, on the division of that principality became Marquess of Saluzzo; this family held the marquisate of Saluzzo from 1142 to 1548. The marquisate embraced the territory lying between the Alps, the Po and the Stura, and was extended on several occasions. In the Middle Ages it had a chequered existence, often being in conflict with powerful neighbours, chiefly the Counts (later Dukes) of Savoy. After Manfred II's death, his widow had to accept a series of tributes, which were to be later the base of the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...

's claims over the increasingly feebler marquises' territories. Thomas III, a vassal of France, wrote the romance ''Le chevalier errant'' ('the knight-errant'). Ludovico I (1416–75) started the Golden Age of the city and imposed himself as a mediator between the neighbouring powers.

Ludovico II Ludovico II may refer to: * Ludovico II Gonzaga, capitano del popolo of Mantua (1334-1382) * Ludovico II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua Ludovico III Gonzaga of Mantua, also spelled Lodovico (also Ludovico II; 5 June 1412 – 12 June 1478) was th ...

constructed a

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

, no longer in use, through the Monviso, a remarkable work for the time. With the help of the French he resisted a vigorous siege by the Duke of Savoy in 1486, but in 1487 yielded and retired to France where he wrote ''L'art de la chevalerie sous Vegèce'' ("The art of chivalry under Vegetius", 1488), a treatise on good government, and other works on military affairs. He was a

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of clerics and authors. In 1490 Ludovico regained power, but after his death, his sons struggled longly for the rule and impoverished the state. After long struggles for independence, the marquisate was occupied (1548) by the French, as a fief of the Crown of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

– with the name of ''Saluces'' – and remained part of that kingdom until it was ceded to

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. ...

in 1601. In 1588 Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy took possession of the city. Thenceforward Saluzzo shared the destinies of Piedmont, with which it formed "one of the keys of the house" of Italy. The Marquisate of Saluzzo is the setting of Boccaccio's tale of

Griselda Griselda is a feminine given name from Germanic sources that is now used in English, Italian, and Spanish as well. According to the 1990 United States Census, the name was 1066th in popularity among females in the United States. It has been ...

, the final story in the

Decameron ''The Decameron'' (; it, label=Italian, Decameron or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old it, Prencipe Galeotto, links=no ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dan ...

, as well as Chaucer's

Clerk's Tale "The Clerk's Tale" is the first tale of Group E (Fragment IV) in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbury Tales''. It is preceded by The Summoner's Tale and followed by The Merchant's Tale. The Clerk of Oxenford (modern Oxford) is a student of what w ...

in '' The Canterbury Tales''. The municipality of Saluzzo absorbed at the beginning of 2019 the neighbouring commune of Castellar, thus enforcing the results of a referendum held in the summer of 2018.''Referendum sulla fusione Saluzzo-Castellar: vince il sì''; article on La Stampa of July 16, 2018, se
www.lastampa.it
/ref>

Geography

The municipality of Saluces occupies a vast area of in the

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic e ...

, about east of Mount Viso. Saluzzo street Monviso 11-12-21

Duomo

The , also known as the Cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin Mary of the Assumption, stands out for its

Late-Gothic Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...

forms; built outside the walls just beyond Porta Santa Maria between 1491 and 1501, it was a bishop's seat starting from 1511. The façade is in exposed brick, adorned by three portals surmounted by terracotta gables that house statues of the apostles (central portal), while above the side there are the patron San Chiaffredo and San Costanzo. The interior has a covering made up of cross vaults, while the Baroque high altar with its large impact is of great impact eleven wooden statues by

Carlo Giuseppe Plura Carlo Giuseppe Plura (3 January 1663 - 14 April 1737) was a Swiss-Italian stucco artist and sculptor. He was born in Lugano and died in Borgo San Dalmazzo. Like him, his son Joseph Plura, Giuseppe Antonio Plura the Elder and Joseph Plura Junior, ...

and collaborators. In the central nave, you can admire a precious fourteenth-century wooden crucifix. To the left of the main altar is the Chapel of the SS. Sacramento, with a polyptych by the Flemish artist of French origin Hans Clemer, better known as Maestro d'Elva.

Toponymy

The Marquisate of Saluzzo was the seat of a

principality whose history is closely linked to that of its powerful neighbor, the

, until its definitive incorporation obtained in 1601 by Duke Charles Emmanuel. The French name of Saluces was given to the city during the period of French domination. There are many traces of this francization still today as on the pediment of the casa cavassa today transformed into a museum where you can read the motto "right whatever it is."

Main sights

* (1491–1501): Church was built in Lombard-Gothic style. The façade is decorated with rose-windows, frescoes (almost totally faded) and statues. The interior contains a magnificent Baroque high altar, plus a 16th-century terracotta group portraying the ''Deposition'', ad ''Adoration of the Shepherds'' by

Sebastiano Ricci Sebastiano Ricci (1 August 165915 May 1734) was an Italian painter of the late Baroque school of Venice. About the same age as Piazzetta, and an elder contemporary of Tiepolo, he represents a late version of the vigorous and luminous Corton ...

. *''San Bernardo'' church formerly belonging to the Conventuals, has interesting tombs of the counts della Torre. *''San Giovanni'': Dominican church begun in 1330 in Gothic style and completed in 1504 with

Bramante Donato Bramante ( , , ; 1444 – 11 April 1514), born as Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect and painter. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance styl ...

sque influences. The façade is

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 ...

. The apse, from 1504, houses a Funerary Chapel of Ludovico II, work by Antoine Le Moiturier (1425–74) covered with green stone and characterized by an elegant play of arches and sculptures. The sepulchre of Ludovico II is a Renaissance work by Benedetto Briosco. Annexed are the Gothic cloister and the Capitular Hall with the Mausoleum of a vicar-general of the marquisate, Galeazzo Cavassa di Carmagnola, a Renaissance work by Matteo Sanmicheli. * Casa Cavassa: site of the civic museum and rebuilt with a Renaissance interior. *''San Agostino'' and ''San Bernardino'' *''Town Hall'' is the former Jesuit College, while the older one (1462), with a bold tower, is utilized by the Court of Assizes. The 16th century ''Villa Belvedere'' has elegant rooms with late-Renaissance decorations.

Notable people

* Alice of Saluzzo *General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa *Marquess

Michele Antonio di Saluzzo Michele Antonio del Vasto (26 March 1495 – 18 October 1528) was the Marquess of Saluzzo from 1504 until his death. Born in Saluzzo, the elder son of Ludovico II of Saluzzo and Margaret of Foix-Candale, he was Count of Carmagnola until he suc ...

* Silvio Pellico, writer * Giambattista Bodoni, typographer * Corrado Segre, mathematician *

Federico Lombardi Federico Lombardi, S.J. (born 29 August 1942) is an Italian Catholic priest and the former director of the Holy See Press Office. He succeeded Joaquín Navarro-Valls and was succeeded by Greg Burke. Lombardi also serves as the postulator for t ...

, Jesuit priest, director of Radio Vatican *

Pier Paolo Maggiora Pier Paolo Maggiora is an Italian architect. Biography He was born in 1943 in Saluzzo, Italy. In Turin he received his Master of Arts degree with Carlo Mollino. Maggiora was an apprentice in the ateliers of Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Al ...

, architect *, soccer dirigent *

Paolo De Chiesa Paolo De Chiesa (born March 14, 1956) is an Italian journalist and former alpine skier who competed in the 1980 Winter Olympics and in the 1984 Winter Olympics. De Chiesa has been a technical commentator for RAI in ski races for several years. B ...

, skier * Magda Olivero, singer *, partisan * Giovanni Canaveri, related to the

May Revolution The May Revolution ( es, Revolución de Mayo) was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the terr ...

Matteo Olivero Matteo Pietro Olivero (15 June 1879 - 28 April 1932) was an Italian painter, known for his technique of reproducing sunlight reflections without physically mixing colour pigments. For that matter he is considered a leading painter of the Italia ...

, Italian painter related to divisionism * Alberto Basso, music historian and lexicographer

Sources

* *''L'Italia da scoprire'', Guide di Bell'Italia, ed. Giorgio Mondadori, 2006

External links

Saluzzo turistica
official Saluzzo tourist webpage. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saluzzo Cities and towns in Piedmont