Cities
Luserna San Giovanni (TO)
This town is was created by unifying the boroughs of Luserna and San Giovanni in the second half of the eighteenth century, when discord ceased between the Catholics and Weldenses. According to legend, the place name Luserna refers to the many fire-flies (Lucerne) that could be seen during the summer. Some scholars, however, link the name to the existence of a signalling “fiaccola” (torch-light). The first substantiations of a borough trace back to the eleventh century, an age in which it was a place of obligatory passage to reach Valle Angrogna and France, as well as an economic and political centre of Val Pellice. In the nineteenth century the borough became distinguished by its industrial activity, which included the production of gneiss (the famous stone of Lucerna), the textile industry, the grinding of kaolin, and chocolate production. Today its wealth comes from agriculture and tourism. Visits to the San Giovanni Maggiore Church, the Palazzo dei Conti di Lucerna and the Tempio Valdese are all worthwhile.
Info
Via Roma, 31 - 10062 Luserna San Giovanni (To)
Tel.: +39.0121 954114 - Fax: +39.0121 902021
E-mail: urp@comune.luserna.to.it
www.comune.luserna.to.it
