Alba (; ) is a town and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' of

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, Italy, in the

Province of Cuneo The province of Cuneo (; ) is a province in the Piedmont region of Italy. To the west, it borders the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ( departments of Alpes-Maritimes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes), to the north the ...

. It is one of the main cities in the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

of Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato. The town is famous for its white

truffle A truffle is the Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, one of the species of the genus ''Tuber (fungus), Tuber''. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including ''Geopora'', ''P ...

and

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

production. The

confectionery Confectionery is the Art (skill), art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two bro ...

group

Ferrero Ferrero may refer to: * Ferrero (surname), a surname * Ferrero (company), an Italian manufacturer of chocolate * Ferrero Bay, a body of water between King Peninsula and Canisteo Peninsula, Antarctica * Ferrero–Washington theorem, a result in alge ...

is based there. The city joined the

UNESCO Creative Cities Network The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a flagship city programme of UNESCO launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which have recognized culture and creativity as strategic drivers of sustainable urban development Urban means ...

in October 2017.

History

Alba's origins date from before the Roman civilization, connected probably to the presence of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and Ligurian tribes in the area. The modern town occupies the site of ancient Alba Pompeia, the name given after being officially recognized as a town by the

Roman consul The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo ( – 87 BC) was a Roman general and politician, who served as consul in 89 BC. He is often referred to in English as Pompey Strabo, to distinguish him from his son, the famous Pompey the Great, or from Strabo the geograp ...

while constructing a road from

Aquae Statiellae Acqui Terme (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont, northern Italy. It is about south-southwest of Alessandria. It is one of the principal winemaking communes of the Italian wine, Italian DOCG wine Brachetto d' ...

(

Acqui Acqui Terme (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont, northern Italy. It is about south-southwest of Alessandria. It is one of the principal winemaking communes of the Italian DOCG wine Brachetto d'Acqui. The c ...

) to

Augusta Taurinorum Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 city is main ...

(

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 city is main ...

). Alba was the birthplace of Publius Helvius Pertinax, briefly Roman emperor in 193. After the fall of the

Western Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

, the city was repeatedly sacked by

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

Burgundians The Burgundians were an early Germanic peoples, Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared east in the middle Rhine region in the third century AD, and were later moved west into the Roman Empire, in Roman Gaul, Gaul. In the first and seco ...

, Byzantines,

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

and

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

. In the 11th century it became a free commune (or

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

) and was a member of the

Lombard League The Lombard League (; ) was an alliance of cities formed in 1167, and supported by the popes, to counter the attempts by the Hohenstaufen Holy Roman emperors to establish direct royal administrative control over the cities of the Kingdom of It ...

Montferrat Montferrat ( , ; ; , ; ) is a historical region of Piedmont, in northern Italy. It comprises roughly (and its extent has varied over time) the modern provinces of Province of Alessandria, Alessandria and Province of Asti, Asti. Montferrat ...

and the

Visconti Visconti is a surname which may refer to: Italian noble families * Visconti of Milan, ruled Milan from 1277 to 1447 ** Visconti di Modrone, collateral branch of the Visconti of Milan * Visconti of Pisa and Sardinia, ruled Gallura in Sardinia from ...

fought over the town; later it became a possession of the Gonzaga.

Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy Charles Emmanuel I (; 12 January 1562 – 26 July 1630), known as the Great, was the Duke of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states from 30 August 1580 until his death almost 50 years later in 1630, he was the longest-reigning Savoyard monarch ...

conquered it twice, while later

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

battled for its possession. The

Treaty of Cherasco The War of the Mantuan Succession, from 1628 to 1631, was caused by the death in December 1627 of Vincenzo II, last male heir from the House of Gonzaga, long-time rulers of Mantua and Montferrat. Their strategic importance led to a proxy war be ...

(1631) assigned Alba definitively to

Savoy Savoy (; )  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 and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

. During

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, it was part of the

Republic of Alba The Republic of Alba () was a revolutionary municipality proclaimed on 26 April 1796, in Alba, Piedmont, when the town was taken by the French army. The municipality had a very short life of only 2 days because, with the Armistice of Cherasco ...

(1796) and of the

Subalpine Republic The Subalpine Republic () was a short-lived republic that existed between 1800 and 1802 on the territory of Piedmont during its military rule by the French Consulate. History Piedmont was the main part of the Kingdom of Sardinia which, despit ...

, both French clients, before being annexed to the French Empire in 1802. It was an

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...

center in firstly Tanaro department between 1802 and 1805, later in

Stura Stura () was a department of the French First Republic and of the First French Empire in present-day Italy. It was named after the river Stura di Demonte. It was formed in 1801, when the Subalpine Republic (formerly the mainland portion of th ...

one between 1805 and 1814 before liberation by Austrian troops. It was returned to the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

(Duchy of Savoy's name after gaining Sardinia in 1720) in 1814. Alba won a Gold Medal for Military Valour for the heroic activity of its citizens in the

Italian resistance movement The Italian Resistance ( ), or simply ''La'' , consisted of all the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social Republic during the Second World War in Italy ...

during the course of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. On 10 October 1944, the town was liberated by partisans who established a

which for a few weeks was able to maintain its independence from the Fascist

Republic of Salò The Italian Social Republic (, ; RSI; , ), known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (, ), was a List of World War II puppet states#Germany, German puppe ...

. The republic lasted until 2 November 1944, when the Republic of Salo retook it. French troops finally liberated it on 2 May 1945.

Geography

Approximately located at about 50 km from the cities of

and

Cuneo Cuneo (; ; ; ) is a city and in Piedmont, 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 the south-west of Piedmont, at the confluence of the ri ...

, Alba is placed on the right side of the river Tanaro. The climate is typically drier than in other lands at the north of the Po river.

Main sights

Of the Roman city, which had a polygonal form, parts of the fortified gate and remains of some edifices with marble and mosaics can still be seen. Other attractions include: *Palazzo Comunale (13th century): city hall housing a ''Nativity'' (1501) by

Macrino d'Alba Macrino d'Alba (c. 1460–1465 – c. 1510–1520) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active mainly in Piedmont, who is known for his altarpieces and portraits. His birth name was ''Gian Giacomo de' Alladio''. Life The lack o ...

. *City towers (14th and 15th centuries): Alba was once known as the "City with hundred towers". * Duomo of San Lorenzo (12th-century): Roman Catholic cathedral built in Romanesque style, probably atop an Ancient Roman temple. It was restructured multiple times over the centuries, starting in the 15th century in a reconstruction patronized by bishop Andrea Novelli. The current appearance derives from a controversial 19th-century restoration; however, the three portals and the crypt remain from the original edifice. The church is well known for its wood-carved choir made in 1512 by Bernardino Fossati. The current belfry, from the 12th century, includes the original bell tower entirely. *San Domenico (13th-14th centuries): Gothic architecture church housing much of the most salient sacred artworks in town. It has a noteworthy portal with a triple arch within a pointed arch, a polygonal apse, and traces of Renaissance frescoes. During the

it was used a stable, but reconsecrated on 22 June 1827. *St John the Baptist (San Giovanni Battista): Baroque architecture church housing a ''Madonna of the Graces'' (1377) by

Barnaba da Modena Barnaba da Modena (c. 1328-c.1386) was a mid-14th-century Italy, Italian painter who painted in the style of Byzantine art.Raimond Van Marle, ''The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting'', Springer Science & Business Media, 2012, p. 382-3 ...

and a ''Madonna with Saints'' (1508) by Macrino d'Alba. *

Santa Maria Maddalena The Santa Maria Maddalena is a Roman Catholic, Catholic church in Rome, Italy dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene. It is the conventual church of the adjacent General Curia of the Clerks Regular, Ministers to the Sick (Camillians), the world headqu ...

(late-18th century): small late-Baroque church designed by

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 housing the relics of

Blessed Margaret of Savoy Margaret of Savoy (21 June 1382 or 1390 – 23 November 1464) was Marchioness of Montferrat, and a Dominican Sister. Family Margaret was the eldest of the four children—all daughters—born to Amadeo of Savoy, Lord of Piedmont (and titula ...

. The city museums include the Federico Eusebio Civic Museum of Archaeology and Natural Sciences.

Economy

In addition to traditional agriculture, Alba is a very important center of wine. In the area of Alba, in fact, there are 290 wineries that cultivate an area of of land, producing an average of 61,200 hL of wine annually. The wines of Alba are among the most renowned in Italy and are divided into: *

DOC DOC, Doc, doc or DoC may refer to: People and characters * Doc, an abbreviation of doctor * Doc (nickname) * Doc (mascot), the Towson University mascot Persons * The D.O.C., American rapper (born 1968) * Doc Gallows (born 1983), ring nam ...

Barbera Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that, as of 2000, was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy (after Sangiovese and Montepulciano). It produces good yields and is known for deep color, full body, low tannins and high levels ...

Dolcetto Dolcetto ( , , ) is a black Italian wine grape variety widely grown in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The Italian word ''dolcetto'' means "little sweet one", but it is not certain that the name originally carried any reference to th ...

Nebbiolo Nebbiolo (, ; ) is an Italian red wine grape variety predominantly associated with its native Piedmont region, where it makes the ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita'' (DOCG) wines of Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara, Ghemme, a ...

. *

DOCG The following four classification of wine, classifications of wine constitute the Italy, Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; 'designation of origin'); * ''Indicazione ...

Barbaresco Barbaresco is an Italian wine made with the Nebbiolo grape. Barbaresco is produced in the Piemonte (wine), Piedmont region in an area of the Langhe immediately to the east of Alba, Italy, Alba and specifically in the ''comune''s of Barbaresco (CN ...

Barolo Barolo ( , , ; ) is a red (DOCG) wine produced in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. It is made from the nebbiolo grape and is often described as one of Italy's greatest wines. The zone of production extends into the communes of Baro ...

, Moscato. The city has a thriving economy, boasting the confectionery industry's world-renowned

, the publishing house Società San Paolo and the textile firm Miroglio. The town also houses the largest cooperative credit bank of Italy, by number of partners, the

Banca d'Alba Banca di Credito Cooperativo di Alba, Langhe, Roero e Canavese S.C. known as Banca d'Alba is an Italian cooperative bank based in Alba, Piedmont region. The bank is a member of Federazione Italiana delle Banche di Credito Cooperativo - Casse Rural ...

, and the international food chain

Eataly Eataly is a chain of large format/footprint Italian marketplaces (food halls) comprising a variety of restaurants, food and beverage counters, bakery, retail items, and a cooking school. Eataly was founded by Oscar Farinetti, an entrepreneur for ...

. UniEuro, the Italian chain of stores specializing in household electrical appliances and acquired by

Dixons Retail Dixons Retail plc was one of the largest consumer electronics retailers in Europe, which merged with Carphone Warehouse in 2014 to create Dixons Carphone, which was renamed Currys plc in 2021. In the United Kingdom, the company operated Curr ...

in 2002, was also established in Alba. Alba is also famous worldwide for its

white truffle ''Tuber magnatum'', the white truffle ( Italian: ), is a species of truffle in the order Pezizales and family Tuberaceae. It is found in southern Europe, the Balkans and Thailand. Description Fruiting in autumn, they can reach diameter and , ...

s, and its annual Truffle Festival.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Alba has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

which is moderated by the proximity of the Mediterranean sea. Its winters are warmer, January is usually , and its summers are hot, when temperatures can reach . Rain falls mostly during the spring and autumn; during the hottest months rain is less common, July with and August with . During November and December, the town of Alba can be prone to fog.

Sport

The town's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club,

A.S.D. Albese Calcio Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Albese Calcio is an Italian association football club, based in Alba, Piedmont. They currently play in Serie D. History Foundation The club was founded in 1917 as ''Unione Sportiva Albese''. The 192 ...

, has been in existence since 1917.

Notable natives and residents

* Publius Helvius Pertinax (126–193), Governor of Britain ''c''.185–187 and Roman Emperor for the first 86 days of 193 AD was born in Alba. * The

(1390–1464), child bride and childless, youthful widow of Theodore II,

Marquess of Montferrat The marquises and dukes of Montferrat were the rulers of a territory in Piedmont south of the Po and east of Turin. The March of Montferrat was created by Berengar II of Italy in 950 during a redistribution of power in the northwest of his kin ...

established, ruled over, and was interred in a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

here. *

Paolo Cerrati Paolo Cerrati (or Cerrato) (1485–1540) was a lawyer and Latin language, Latin poet, best known for his long poem ''De Verginitate''. Born into a noble family of Alba (CN), Alba in north-west Italy, he is said to have studied belles lettres under ...

(or Cerrato) (1485–1540), lawyer and Latin poet *

(c.1460–65 – c.1510–20) was a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

painter, born in Alba and largely active in northwest Italy. * Giuseppe "Pinot" Gallizio (1912–1964), an artist born in Alba and co-founder thereof the

International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus The International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus was a small European avant-garde artistic tendency that arose out of the breakup of COBRA, and was initiated by contact between former COBRA members Asger Jorn and Enrico Baj and Sergio Dangelo ...

. *

Beppe Fenoglio Giuseppe "Beppe" Fenoglio (; 1 March 1922 – 18 February 1963) was an Italian writer, partisan and translator from English. The works of Fenoglio have two main themes: the rural world of the Langhe, where he was born and raised, and the Italia ...

(1922–1963) was a writer born in Alba and a (royalist) partisan fighter who participated in the brief liberation of the town from Nazi-Fascist control in 1944. *

Sara Bonifacio Sara Bonifacio (born 3 July 1996) is an Italian volleyball player who plays for Igor Gorgonzola Novara. Career Bonifacio joined the amateur volleyball club of Alba in 2005 then she was recruited for Club Italia a junior team managed by FIPAV. Sh ...

(1996–), Italian female volleyball player.

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

Alba is twinned with: *

Arlon Arlon (; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Luxembourg (Belgium), province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it ...

, Belgium (2004) *

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Greater Fatra, Veľká Fatra, and t ...

, Slovakia (1967) *

Beausoleil Beausoleil, beau soleil or variants may refer to: * Beausoleil, Alpes-Maritimes, a town in southern France, adjoining the Principality of Monaco * Beausoleil, New Brunswick, a community in Canada * Beausoleil, a rural hamlet in the municipality of ...

, France *

Böblingen Böblingen (; ) is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, seat of Böblingen (district), Böblingen District. Sindelfingen and Böblingen are Geographic contiguity, contiguous. History Böblingen was founded by Count Wilhelm von Tübingen-Bö ...

, Germany *

Giresun Giresun () is a city in the Black Sea Region of northeastern Turkey, about west of the city of Trabzon. It is the seat of Giresun Province and Giresun District.Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824, making it the List of cities in Oregon, eighth-most populo ...

, United States (1960) *

Sant Cugat del Vallès Sant Cugat del Vallès () is a town and municipality north of Barcelona, Catalonia. Known as ''Castrum Octavianum'' in antiquity (which means ''the castle of Octavianus'') and as ''Pins del Vallès'' during the Second Spanish Republic, it is nam ...

, Spain

References

Sources and external links

www.comune.alba.cn.it
– the official website of the city council
Alba Music Festival
artistic direction: Giuseppe Nova, Jeff Silberschlag, Larry Vote
Guide to Alba city
– Information, phone numbers and useful links at comuni-italiani.it
Information on Alba
– a very short tourist guide from www.piemonte-Italy.info
Coro Giovanile La Schola
– the website of the “La Schola” youth choir of the cathedral parish of Alba

– article from the Old Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 {{Authority control Cities and towns in Piedmont Roman sites in Piedmont Wine regions of Italy Roero