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Piemonte Travel Guide

Piemonte CITIES TRAVEL GUIDES

Turin

THINGS TO TRY

Piemonte Hotels
Events

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Introduction

Piemonte, in northern Italy, occupies the upper Po basin and the adjoining pre-Alpine moraine and hill region, bounded on the south, west and north by the mighty mountain arc of the Apennines and the Alps, which here reach their highest points in Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa, the Gran Paradiso and the Matterhorn. It borders with France, Switzerland, and the Italian regions of Lombardy, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, and the Aosta Valley. The region takes in six provinces with Turin as its capital.

Lowland Piemonte is a fertile agricultural region, producing wheat, rice, maize, and wine grapes. It is widely recognized as one of Italy's three premier wine producing regions (along with Tuscany and the Veneto). Among the famous and prized wines of the Piemonte are Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera, Dolcetto, Ruche, and Brachetto. The region also contains major industrial centres, notably Turin, home to the FIAT automobile works. In February 2006 Turin hosted the XX Olympic Winter Games.

History and Culture

Originally occupied by a number of different peoples, Piemonte (“foot of the mountain”) was Romanised in the time of Augustus. After the fall of the Roman Empire it was held successively by the Lombards (Langobardi) and the Franks. It was devastated by the Magyars in 899 (massacre of Vercelli) and later by the Saracens. Thereafter it split up into a patchwork of coun- ties, duchies and marquisates, the most important of which in the 10th century were Ivrea and Turin, joined by Saluzzo and Monferrato in the 12th century. In the 11th century most of the present-day Piemonte passed to the house of Savoy (French Pieamont) as a result of a dynastic marriage; and the territory became in the 13th century the county, and in 1416 the duchy, of Piemonte. Thereafter it was disputed between the Habsburgs and France, owing its importance and the vicissitudes of its subsequent history largely to its control of the western Alpine passes (the Great and Little St Bernard). In 1720 Piemonte acquired Sardinia in exchange for Sicily, and as the kingdom of Sardinia played a leading part in the unification of Italy. In 1861 Victor Emmanuel II (1849-78), son of the last king of Sardinia, became king of Italy, with Turin, the old Piemonteese capital, as capital of the new kingdom until 1865.

Places in the Region of Piemonte

Piemonte (or Piemonte) offers the traveler a variety of wonderful landscapes, from the snow-topped mountains in the Alps that border with France and Switzerland, to the rolling foothills that flow out of the mountains, to a wide and fertile plain. Piemonte's snow and mountains provide spectacular settings for both winter tourism and traditional summer holidays. Thanks to the unusual conformation of the Piemonteese valleys, may of the resorts are like balconies overlooking moutain peaks of great beauty - Monviso, Gran Paradiso, Monte Rosa, Argentera. Piemonte's moutains, however, are not given over entirely to skiing. Foresight and a great love of nature have led to the creation and safeguarding of nature parks and protected areas that offer silent spots and uncontaminated nature for walks, trekking and horse-riding. There are beautiful hilly landscapes, where Piemonte's noble past is visible in the castles, sanctuaries, abbeys and country churches - and also expressed in vineyards that have, for centuries, created a harmonious geometry and produced many aristocratic wines of great prestige.

The region's lakes have always attracted an elite tourism and, in the 1800s, started to bring great travellers to Piemonte. The villas and gardens that adorn the shores of Lakes Maggiore and Orta demonstrate the importance through the years of these seductive sheets of water. Also unusual are the so-called “waterlands”: the provinces of Novara and Vercelli lying on a characteristic plain. With their cascine and farms, green fields, lakes and ricepaddies, distributed in a chequered pattern, they possess all the charm of lands in which man's history, nature and work have come together in a uncommon and refined equilibrium.

The history of this territory - one that, with the Savoy Dynasty, played such a major role in Italian vicissitudes - is visible in all the urban centres. From Italy's first capital, Turin, which despited industrial development has managed to conserve major expressions of the Risorgimento, to the minor towns and small centres that have conserved their indentity, skilfully stratifying the architecture of past and present. Culture and art can be found all over the region: in the abundance of art in the rich Savoy residences, the museums (from the great Egyptian Museum to small collections in the minor ethnographic museums), the castles, the religious Sacro Monte constructions, the abbeys filled with history and works of art, the splendid sanctuaries and small churches and chapels, expressions of popular devotion. Piemonte can boast the conservation of ancient traditons, notably the Palio of Asti and the Carnival of Ivrea, but also commemorations in costume of the History of the Languedocian culture, Passion plays and age-old fairs. In more recent times musical and theatrical events have carved a place for themselves alongside the Automobile Show and the Book Fair.

Drinks and cuisine

The tasty Piemonteese specialities are based on a number of typical products, considered regional treasures: first and foremost comes the truffle, followed by wines (Asti and Monferrato), cheese and cold meats. Other specialities are grissini (breadsticks), invented in the late 17th century for the delicate stomach of Vittorio Amedeo II, Vermouth, created in 1786 by Antonio Benedetto Carpano, and Fernet, produced in 1865 by Benedetto Branca.

Events

Cioccolato - Feb-Mar - Turin
Every year the town organizes cioccolato, a two week chocolate festival with the main Piemonteese chocolate factories and producers and some international ones like Lindt with tastings, sculpture competitions and numerous stalls selling sweet treats around the city centre.

The biennial Salone Internazionale del Gusto - Turin
An international five-day festival of food and wine, with traditional producers from around the world showcasing and selling their wares in a huge street market.

Festival Internazionale di Film con Tematiche Omosessuali - April - Turin
Is a five-day international gay and lesbian film festival held in April.

Links

International Airport Sandro Pertini

Transport

Satti Dora Railway Station

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Museum

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Events

Hotels in Piemonte
Hotel Due Mondi Single room - From 49€ Superior Suite - From 89€ Visit hotel page
Best Western Hotel Piemontese Junior suite - From 109€ Visit hotel page
Hotel Del Parco Single room - From 39€ Double room - From 39€ Visit hotel page
Villa Maria Sole Twin room - From 70€ Triple room - From 105€ Visit hotel page
Hotel Bes & Spa Standard Dus (sing - From 159€ Executive Dbl - From 276€ Classic Dbl - From 228€ Visit hotel page
La Sorgente Double room - From 90€ Visit hotel page
Eur Hotel Volpiano Camera doppia uso - From 54€ Twin room - From 69€ Visit hotel page
Hotel Des Alpes Single room - From 59€ Twin room - From 69€ Triple room - From 89€ Visit hotel page
Hotel Residence San Paolo Single room - From 55€ Double room - From 55€ Triple room - From 65€ Visit hotel page
Golden Palace Double room - From 205€ Visit hotel page
Parco Sassi Leisure Single room - From 80€ Twin room - From 100€ Triple room - From 115€ Visit hotel page
La Residenza Dello Scoiattolo Camera con letti g - From 45€ Visit hotel page
Hotel Interporto Single room - From 50€ Twin room - From 55€ Triple room - From 65€ Visit hotel page
Albergo Artua'&Solferino Quadruple room - From 160€ Twin room - From 90€ Triple room - From 135€ Visit hotel page
All'Orchidea Hotel Single room - From 47€ Twin room - From 59€ Triple room - From 75€ Visit hotel page
Bellavista Lago D'orta Junior suite - From 90€ Single room - From 60€ Triple room - From 130€ Visit hotel page
Locanda Del Molino Vecchio Magnolia - From 65€ Noci - From 65€ Quercia - From 100€ Visit hotel page
Hotel Astor Single room - From 50€ Twin room - From 62€ Triple room - From 80€ Visit hotel page
Hotel Bijou Single room - From 90€ Twin room - From 120€ Triple room - From 160€ Visit hotel page
Al Brich Double room - From 55€ Triple room - From 65€ Visit hotel page
Hotel Pian del Sole Single room - From 50€ Double room - From 60€ Visit hotel page
Cà d' Rot Double room - From 60€ Visit hotel page
Hotel Alpino Single room - From 50€ Twin room - From 70€ Visit hotel page
Hotel FortyFive Double room - From 80€ Suite - From 100€ Visit hotel page
LA\.TI\.MI\.DA\. Stanza Uva - From 40€ Stanza Campanule - From 60€ Visit hotel page
Albergo Ristorante San Marco Doppia uso singolo - From 65€ Double room - From 70€ Visit hotel page
La Chicca Single room - From 38€ Double room - From 65€ Visit hotel page
Agorà Palace Single room - From 100€ Twin room - From 120€ Visit hotel page
Hotel Dock Milano Single room - From 58.9€ Twin room - From 69.9€ Visit hotel page