The Borgo

We have no trace of human settlement in the hamlet in prehistoric times, as in the Roman age of II-III century. In the Middle Ages we have documents of an inhabited and Pieve, but still no trace of the hamlet.
Between the 11th and 12th centuries the Bishop, Lord of Turin, took possession of the surrounding area by constructing various castles of military form and, probably, also constructed the Pianezza one. It is likely that the military work has relocated any residents to the altitude of the hamlet. There are, at this time, some private property passages that testify to an active community and a living nucleus that is now coexisting but there are still no traces of defensive works that protect it.
In middle of 1200, the inhabitants of the small settlements around Pianezza had already abandoned their homes to gather in the country and thus be able to defend themselves better. Along the castle, on a 8-meter rise, Pianezza's men built a long fortification surrounded by a wall where they could take refuge in the event of danger represented by brigands, predators, and shattered soldiers.
During this period, the inhabitants also had to defend themselves from the Savoy, who attacked Pianezza permanently in 1290. Outside the town, in 1299, a defensive barrier was made of palisades and trenches still witnessed by the existing name of "Tornafòl" or from that recorded in the land-register, and now disappeared, of "Cunij" (tunnels or trenches).
Collective defense, according to the models of the era, required the construction of a defensive and better fortified core. So the BORGO was born, called elsewhere Ricetto, where every family owned a very small housing unit and was able to secure their lives, the most precious things and the supplies. In the following two centuries the defenses were improved, the wall maintenance requirements were made, professional guards caught up in the most risky occasions. Nowadays there is only one of the existing defensive towers.
When the dangers ceased and the passive defense became useless, the Borgo became a stable place of residence and the second Parish of Saint Paul was built. The tower became a bell tower hosting the bell of the Commune and that of the nearby church. There are still small traces of the walls. The design of housing units is still visible.
Urban revolution has erased the other memories of the Ricetto, but not the form of an important collective and joint work between the citizens now assembled in the Commune and the public power based in the Castle, whether it was the Bishop, Monferrato or Savoia.