Page 225 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

V ALLE D ’ A OST A AND PIEDMONT І 223

(13th–14th century) contains
early 16th-century paintings by
Defendente Ferrari.

w Pinerolo
Turin. * 36,000. V @ n Viale
Giolitti 7/9 (0121 79 55 89). ( Wed &
Sat. ∑ turismotorino.org
Pinerolo lies in an attractive
setting beside hills at the
Carved capitals on the Porta dello Zodiaco at the Sacra di San Michele confluence of the Lemina and
Chisone valleys. The town was
0 Sacra di San 16th-century paintings and the capital of the Acaia family,
Michele frescoes, and a 16th-century a branch of the House of Savoy,
triptych by the Piedmontese and in the 14th and 15th
Strada Sacra San Michele. Tel 011 93 artist Defendente Ferrari. The centuries it was known for the
91 30. @ May–Sep: Sun pm from crypt holds the tombs of the cultural atmosphere that
Avigliana & Turin. Open 9:30am–noon, early dukes and princes of the prevailed here under the family’s
2:30–6pm Tue–Sun (mid-Oct–mid- House of Savoy-Carignano. patronage. However, the town
Mar: to 5pm). Phone to arrange group
visits. & ∑ sacradisanmichele.com enjoyed none of the stability of
Turin: it was occupied by the
This somewhat forbidding q Avigliana French five times between the
abbey complex is perched on Turin. * 12,000. V @ n Corso 15th and 18th centuries. During
a ridge halfway up Monte Laghi 389 (011 93 11 873). the 17th century the French
Pirchiriano, at 962 m (3,156 ft). ( Thu. ∑ turismoavigliana.it demolished many of the town’s
Its monastic community was ancient buildings in order to
founded around the year 1000, On a fine day, this small town make Pinerolo a defensive
possibly on the site of a perched beside two glacier-fed stronghold; among the political
previous sanctuary, though the lakes and encircled by tall prisoners allegedly held here
exterior looks every bit as much mountains looks breathtakingly was the notorious “Man in the
a fortress as the spiritual refuge beautiful. Avigliana is overlooked Iron Mask”. Today the town is a
that it was for 600 years. by a castle, first erected in the busy centre of commerce.
During its prime, the abbey mid-10th century but now in A number of monumental
attracted pilgrims on their way ruins, which was once the home buildings do remain, however.
to Rome, and as a result it grew of the Counts of Savoy. Until the The Duomo, at the centre of
enormously wealthy and early 15th century the town was the town, was remodelled in
powerful, controlling over 100 one of their favourite bases. Gothic style in the 15th–
other abbeys in Italy, France and The medieval houses here are 16th centuries and has a fine
Spain. It was subsequently largely unspoiled, particularly in portal and an impressive bell
looted several times, despite the two main piazzas, Santa tower. Via Principi d’Acaia climbs
being fortified, before falling Maria and Conte Rosso. Other up to the 14th-century palace
into decline and eventually buildings of note are the Casa of the Princes of Acaia, and to
being suppressed in 1662. della Porta Ferrata and the the 15th-century church of San
The sanctuary is reached by 15th-century Casa dei Savoia, Maurizio, where the Acaia
climbing 154 steep steps hewn both on Via XX Settembre. princes are buried; beside it rises
out of the rock, which offer The church of San Giovanni a 14th-century bell tower.
wonderful views over the
surrounding countryside and
up to the Alps. At the very top
of this stairway, known as the
Scalone dei Morti (Stairway of
the Dead), is the Romanesque
Porta dello Zodiaco, a doorway
carved with creatures and
symbols relating to the signs
of the zodiac. Beyond the
doorway a few more steps lead
into the church itself, which
dates from the 12th–13th
centuries and incorporates
traces of an earlier building.
The interior houses 15th- and The medieval arcades surrounding Piazza Conte Rosso in Avigliana

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