Description
The first document mentioning Pianezza dates back to the year 985 when Siomondo donated to the Monastery of San Pietro called Breme di Novalesa a field in "Loco Planicio", but the story goes back a long time since Pianezza retains traces of Roman presence, when it was perhaps a point of collection of agricultural products and legions of legions on the Via delle Gallie.
It was then the center of diffusion of Christianity towards the still pagan alpine valleys. Because of his position in the system of roads connecting Italy and France he saw Annibale, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, Napoleon, popes, preachers, diplomats, pilgrims ...
After the Thousand Pianezza it was a strong point of the bishop's power, with the population gathered around the parish church, the castle and the fortified village; in 1159 Federico Barbarossa took care of Pianezza, establishing that the Castle, the Pieve and the Village belonged to the Bishops of Turin.
Occupied later by the Savoy and then subdued to the Provana, it experienced a period of artistic splendor that led to the embellishment of the parish church and the rural chapels with frescoes of exquisite workmanship; later unfortunately there were no sieges, fires and looting.
After Emanuele Filiberto the land was concentrated in the hands of officials, bourgeois, favorites of the Court, and in the seventeenth century were the Simians to transform the castle from a fortress into a noble residence.
Between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the town's buildings were renewed, the baroque churches, the residential buildings and the villas for the holiday of the Turin bourgeoisie were built. The first industrial revolution, at the end of the seventeenth century, installed a silk spinning machine on the Dora; the latter brought industries, tertiary activities and a substantial increase in population.
Today Pianezza is a town of about 15,000 inhabitants, where industry and residence have found their place without stifling the traditional agricultural landscape, where it is pleasant to live the relationship with nature and the signs of the past, where relationships and collective activities are lively.
Its inhabitants know the art of keeping tradition and progress in balance, preserving what the ancient have left behind.
It was then the center of diffusion of Christianity towards the still pagan alpine valleys. Because of his position in the system of roads connecting Italy and France he saw Annibale, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, Napoleon, popes, preachers, diplomats, pilgrims ...
After the Thousand Pianezza it was a strong point of the bishop's power, with the population gathered around the parish church, the castle and the fortified village; in 1159 Federico Barbarossa took care of Pianezza, establishing that the Castle, the Pieve and the Village belonged to the Bishops of Turin.
Occupied later by the Savoy and then subdued to the Provana, it experienced a period of artistic splendor that led to the embellishment of the parish church and the rural chapels with frescoes of exquisite workmanship; later unfortunately there were no sieges, fires and looting.
After Emanuele Filiberto the land was concentrated in the hands of officials, bourgeois, favorites of the Court, and in the seventeenth century were the Simians to transform the castle from a fortress into a noble residence.
Between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the town's buildings were renewed, the baroque churches, the residential buildings and the villas for the holiday of the Turin bourgeoisie were built. The first industrial revolution, at the end of the seventeenth century, installed a silk spinning machine on the Dora; the latter brought industries, tertiary activities and a substantial increase in population.
Today Pianezza is a town of about 15,000 inhabitants, where industry and residence have found their place without stifling the traditional agricultural landscape, where it is pleasant to live the relationship with nature and the signs of the past, where relationships and collective activities are lively.
Its inhabitants know the art of keeping tradition and progress in balance, preserving what the ancient have left behind.