Cuneo - Piemonte Feel

Cuneo, always an important centre for food and wine, can nowadays also boast an important history, having witnessed the birth of many important figures and the consolidation of many traditions. In 1923 Andrea and Rosa Arione launched a new recipe “for a chocolate worth as much as Peru” in their pasticceria in Piazza Galimberti. However, to describe the “Cuneese” as a mere chocolate is surely reductive. With time, the “Cuneese” conquered the palates of the citizens of Cuneo, and of many others in Italy and around the world. The international fame of the “Cuneese al Rhum” was guaranteed much later in 1954 when Arnoldo Mondadori, a great consumer and admirer of the product, advised Ernest Hemingway to take a trip to Cuneo in order to buy a few boxes. On the 8th of March that year the great American author arrived at the Arione’s pasticceria and, with an autograph and a handshake, bought up large quantities of “Cuneesi” so as to “sweeten” a period of rest in Nice.

Strategically positioned between France and Piedmont, Cuneo grew up on the plateau where the Gesso Torrent and the Stura de Demonte River meet. Continuing to value and respect its own agricultural identity and the specialised knowledge of those working in that field, the city has been able to strengthen and enrich a number of related sectors. Particular effort has been put into its food and wine sector, so that today Cuneo is well known and respected for its wines and high quality local products, such as truffles, which in some periods of the year bring in thousands of Italian and foreign tourists. Cuneo was unable to maintain its independence as a free city. Falling under the control first of the Marquises of Saluzzo, then of the Angevin and of the Viscounts of Milan, it was destroyed on many occasions until, in 1500, it came into the possession of the Savoy family.

Nowadays, Via Roma and Via Nizza, the main “arteries” of the town centre, divide the city up into two parts which almost mirror each other. The sixteenth century Palazzo Municipale (Town Hall) and the Palazzo della Torre, the former church of Saint Francesca, which is now occupied by the Civic Museum, the chiesa di Santa Croce, the medieval church of Saint Sebastian, the church of Saint Ambrose and the cathedral of Santa Maria del Bosco, designed by Giovenale Boetto in 1662 are all situated on Via Roma and its surrounding streets. Piazza Duccio Galimberti, dedicated to the national hero of the Resistance is not far from the cathedral, and is host to a rich and colourful market every Tuesday. This is the nerve centre of city life, which is characterised by new and old business activities, offices and historical cafes.

Taking Viale degli Angeli from Piazza Galimberti, you will reach the Santuario della Santissima Vergine Maria (Sanctuary of the Holy Virgin Mary). This is a very romantic route, which offers a striking view of the surrounding mountains and is also covered by a special cycle path which runs through the park containing Umberto Mastroianni’s monument to the Resistance. For lovers of architecture, Cuneo boasts some important examples of Liberty and rationalist architecture, the most important of which lies at the entrance to the city: the Soleri viaduct – 50 metres high and 800 metres long, made up of 34 arches.

Info
Via Roma, 28 - 12100 Cuneo
Tel. +39.0171.4441 (Centralino) - Fax: +39.0171.444211
Toll free no. 800.701822
E-mail: ufficio.protocollo@comune.cuneo.it; urp@comune.cuneo.it
www.comune.cuneo.it