Chieri
Encyclopedia
Chieri is a town and comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

in the province of Turin
Province of Turin
The Province of Turin is a province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Turin.It has an area of 6,830 km², and a total population of 2,277,686 . There are 315 comuni in the province – the most of any province in Italy...

, Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...

 (Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

), located about 11 km southeast of Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

 (15 km by rail and 13 km by road). It borders the following municipalities: Baldissero Torinese
Baldissero Torinese
Baldissero Torinese is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 9 km east of Turin. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,488 and an area of 15.5 km²....

, Pavarolo
Pavarolo
Pavarolo is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 10 km east of Turin. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 932 and an area of 4.4 km²....

, Montaldo Torinese
Montaldo Torinese
Montaldo Torinese is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 12 kilometres east of Turin....

, Pino Torinese
Pino Torinese
Pino Torinese is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 6 km southeast of Turin...

, Arignano
Arignano
Arignano is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 15 km east of Turin.It is home to two castles, the Rocca and the Castello Inferiore .Lake Arignano is located in the comune....

, Andezeno
Andezeno
Andezeno is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 14 km southeast of Turin.Andezeno borders the following municipalities: Marentino, Montaldo Torinese, Chieri, and Arignano....

, Pecetto Torinese
Pecetto Torinese
Pecetto Torinese is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 7 km southeast of Turin....

, Riva presso Chieri
Riva presso Chieri
Riva presso Chieri is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 15 km southeast of Turin.-Natives of Riva presso Chieri:*Domenico Savio , canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1954....

, Cambiano
Cambiano
Cambiano is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 13 km southeast of Turin.Cambiano borders the following municipalities: Pino Torinese, Chieri, Pecetto Torinese, Moncalieri, Trofarello, Santena, and Villastellone.-External links:*...

, Santena
Santena
Santena is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 15 km southeast of Turin on the right bank of the Po...

, Poirino
Poirino
Poirino is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 20 km southeast of Turin.Poirino borders the following municipalities: Chieri, Riva presso Chieri, Villanova d'Asti, Santena, Villastellone, Isolabella, Cellarengo, Pralormo, Ceresole Alba, and...

.

Roman

The city was founded around the 1st or 2nd Century AD as the Roman settlement of Carreum Potentia, which was sited nearby a prominent hill which later became known as San Giorgio and which grew to be the geographical focus of the city centre.

Roman historian Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...

 made reference to "Carreum quod Potentia cognominatur" in his work Naturalis Historia
Naturalis Historia
The Natural History is an encyclopedia published circa AD 77–79 by Pliny the Elder. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to Pliny...

, within his list of fortified settlements which then abounded in the section of Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul, in Latin: Gallia Cisalpina or Citerior, also called Gallia Togata, was a Roman province until 41 BC when it was merged into Roman Italy.It bore the name Gallia, because the great body of its inhabitants, after the expulsion of the Etruscans, consisted of Gauls or Celts...

 located between the River Po and the Ligurian Apennines
Apennine mountains
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains or Greek oros but just as often used alone as a noun. The ancient Greeks and Romans typically but not always used "mountain" in the singular to mean one or a range; thus, "the Apennine mountain" refers to the entire chain and is translated "the Apennine...

.

The portrait he painted therein was of the city as a prosperous Roman walled city, surrounded by cultivated farmlands and scattered agricultural settlements.

The city underwent conversion to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 sometime in the 5th century, as recorded on a funeral slab dated from 488 AD.

Early Medieval

No further historical records exist regarding Chieri until the 10th century, when it came under feudal subjection to the Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

.
During the first half of the 11th century the city had an encircling defensive wall erected around the San Giorgio Hill ( known as the Castrum Sancti Georgi, which still constitutes the city nucleus ), under direction of Bishop Landolfo: these long-demolished Mura Landolfiane still clearly trace the outline of the pattern of narrow streets around the hill ( known as the Chiocciola, "snail" ). The work included a strengthening of the fortifications and tower atop the hill, now incorporated into the Church of San Giorgio which occupies the hilltop and overlooks the city.

Outside the walls, on the plains surrounding the city, a church was erected dedicated to Santa Maria (Virgin Mary): this site was likely that of an earlier and more primitive Church dating from the 4th century, which had itself replaced an earlier Roman Temple to the goddess Minerva
Minerva
Minerva was the Roman goddess whom Romans from the 2nd century BC onwards equated with the Greek goddess Athena. She was the virgin goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, magic...

 which originally occupied the same site.

This period also experienced the construction of numerous quadrilateral towers, inside the perimeter of the walls, by the powerful families of the city, hence it became known as Cittá delle Cento Torri ("city of one hundred towers"): a handful of these Towers still survive to this day.

During the 12th century the city allied itself with the more powerful city of Asti
Asti
Asti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...

 in fighting against the marquis William V of Montferrat, himself allied to Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...

: in revenge for this rebel alliance, Barbarossa besieged the city and in January 1155 conquered it, decimating its towers and fortifications, as well as massacring a significant portion of the population.

Popular legend has it that its present-day name was given by Barbarossa who, upon departing the city after ransacking it, looked back upon its ruins and asked Ma tu, chi eri? (Italian for "And you, who were you?") - although this story is most likely apocryphal.

Over the remainder of the 12th century, the city gradually gained independence from the rule and authority of the Bishop of Turin, and this resulted in the emergence of the free Republic of Chieri, which grew to have its own autonomous judicial and administrative institutions, similar to the numerous other Free Republic cities which existed in Italy during this period.

Late Medieval

In the course of the 13th century, the Republic of Chieri experienced a period of substantial prosperity, and at that time was comparable in splendor and importance to the great medieval cities of Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

, Asti
Asti
Asti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...

 and Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...

.

In 1238 the Republic was granted the status of camera speciale (Italian: "special chamber") by Emperor Frederick
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...

, which meant that the only authority the Republic would be subject to was that of the (very remote) Emperor.

Following growing violent internecine struggles between city factions to the end of that century, the Republic of Chieri, despite asserting its dominion over adjacent lands and castles and constructing a secondary ring of city walls, decreased in power and autonomy to the point that in 1339 the city made itself subject to Robert of Anjou, King of Naples: in doing so, it granted half of its lands and territories as feudal possession to Prince Iacopo of the house of Savoy-Acaia. The city eventually passed in its entirety to the House of Savoy
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...

, when the line of Acaia died out.

Renaissance

The 15th century brought Chieri a period of economic prosperity and a flourishing of the Arts with, among other endeavours, the rebuilding of the Church of Santa Maria into its present form as the Duomo
Duomo
Duomo is a term for a cathedral church. The formal word for a church that is presently a cathedral is cattedrale; a Duomo may be either a present or a former cathedral . Some, like the Duomo of Monza, have never been cathedrals, although old and important...

. During this time the hill-top church of San Giorgio was also rebuilt into its current incarnation, and several works of Flemish art were brought into the area by rich city merchants.

The 16th century covered a period of succeeding plagues, epidemics, and wars, and (from 1551 to 1562) also brought French domination. During this period some of its citizens became followers of the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

 started by Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

, but this was quashed by strong opposition from Duke Emanuele Filiberto
Emanuele Filiberto
Emanuele Filiberto, a common name among members of the House of Savoy, may refer to:* Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta , eldest son of Amadeo I of Spain* Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Savoy , Spanish general...

: it was in order to honour him, along with Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy, that the city towards the end of this century constructed a Triumphal Arch, still present on the main street (currently Via Vittorio Emanuele II).

The year 1630 saw a terrible outbreak of the Bubonic Plague
Italian Plague of 1629-1631
The Italian Plague of 1629–1631 was a series of outbreaks of bubonic plague which occurred from 1629 through 1631 in northern Italy. This epidemic, often referred to as Great Plague of Milan, claimed the lives of approximately 280,000 people, with the cities of the Lombardy and Veneto regions...

, which is still commemorated every September the 12th with the ceremony of the Madonna delle Grazie. Despite this, the remainder of the 17th century also covered a flourishing of artistic achievement, with the building of several churches and chapels in the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 style of architecture, as well as numerous paintings and sculptures.

Modern era

In 1785 Chieri became a Principality under the control of the duke of Aosta
Aosta
Aosta is the principal city of the bilingual Aosta Valley in the Italian Alps, north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel, at the confluence of the Buthier and the Dora Baltea, and at the junction of the Great and Little St. Bernard routes...

. The late 18th century again brought French domination, this time under the conquests of Napoleon Bonaparte; but this period also witnessed the establishment of a major Textile mill, which consolidated and built upon the city's base as a medieval centre for Textile trade and manufacture.

Numerous other textile factories followed in the late 19th century, with textile manufacture originating from Chieri playing a prominent role even in international Textile Fairs. The year 1850 saw the demolition of the old medieval city gates and the privatisation of the city walls, which at that time still demarcated the limits of the entire city.

In 1871 a railroad link was constructed to the city, partly due to contributions from the municipality and from wealthy citizens, in the form of the Chieri-Trofarello branch line: this was to serve the now very significant Textile industry of the city, with the building of the railway station also serving to initiate in the surrounding area the erection of the first city quarter built outside its walls.

The early 20th century brought the electrification of the Textile industries (1909), but also the rise of Fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...

 in Italy. World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 caused no direct bombardments to the city despite the relocation, from the nearby major industrial centre of Turin, of numerous factories and heavy industry manufacture; German occupation of the city followed the fall of Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....

 in 1943, until its liberation by American forces.

Today

The post-war period experienced a huge increase in Chieri's population, as massive migration occurred between the 1950s and 1970s from the Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...

 region and from Southern Italy (Italian: "Il Mezzogiorno
Mezzogiorno
The Midday is a wide definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the southern half of the Italian state, encompassing the southern section of the continental Italian Peninsula and the two major islands of Sicily and Sardinia, in addition to a large number of minor islands...

"), to the major industrial centres of Northern Italy such as Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 and Turin and adjacent areas: this resulted in a population boom from approximately 14,000 immediately after the War, to 30,000 inhabitants in just under three decades.

The later years of the 20th century also witnessed the decline of Textile industry in the city, as numerous Factories were forced to close from competitive pressure from the cheaper manufacturing centres of the Indian Subcontinent and the Far East. This is being counteracted by the establishment of a new industrial area outside the city, and also by a rediscovering and redeveloping of Chieri's significant cultural and historical heritage.

Today Chieri is a growing center for the provision of a varied portfolio of commercial, retail, financial, and tertiary services.

Main sights

  • The Gothic
    Gothic architecture
    Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

     Duomo (cathedral
    Cathedral
    A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

    ), founded in 1037 and reconstructed in 1405, is the largest in Piedmont
    Piedmont
    Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...

    , and has a 13th century octagonal Baptistery
    Baptistery
    In Christian architecture the baptistry or baptistery is the separate centrally-planned structure surrounding the baptismal font. The baptistry may be incorporated within the body of a church or cathedral and be provided with an altar as a chapel...

     which includes a fine collection of 13th century fresco
    Fresco
    Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...

    es. Its glass stained windows are the work of renowned glass artist Silvio Vigliaturo
    Silvio Vigliaturo
    Silvio Vigliaturo was born in Acri , in 1949. When still a child he moved to Chieri , where presently he lives and works. He is a glassfusion maestro and his technique is appreciated internationally and considered unique in his genre by the most important Italian and foreign critics.- Artistic...

    .
  • The hill-top church of San Giorgio, dominating the historical centre and offering commanding views of the entire city.
  • The church of San Filippo, on the principal Via Vittorio Emanuele, boasting a noteworthy example of Italian Baroque
    Baroque
    The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

    -style face-brick church façade.
  • The Arco (Triumphal Arch
    Triumphal arch
    A triumphal arch is a monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crowned with a flat entablature or attic on which a statue might be...

    ), dedicated to Charles Emmanuel I and Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy.

Notable natives

  • Giuseppe Avezzana
    Giuseppe Avezzana
    Giuseppe Avezzana was an Italian soldier who fought in Europe and America.-Biography:...

     (1797–1879), Italian general and politician who previously fought under Napoleon from 1813–14
  • Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo (1786–1842), Catholic priest and saint, died in Chieri
  • David Levi
    David Levi (Italy)
    David Levi was an Italian-Jewish poet and patriot.-Biography:Educated at the Jewish schools of his native town and Vercelli, he for a short time followed a mercantile career...

     (1816–98), Italian poet and patriot
  • Claudio Marchisio
    Claudio Marchisio
    Claudio Marchisio is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Juventus and the Italian national team. A product of the Juventus youth system, he has spent his whole career thus far at his hometown club, with the exception of a season-long loan spell at Empoli...

     (born 1986), football player
  • Giovanni Perrone
    Giovanni Perrone
    Giovanni Perrone was an Italian theologian born in Chieri .He studied theology at Turin and at the age of 21 went to Rome, where he joined the Society of Jesus. In 1816 he was sent as professor of theology to Orvieto, and in 1823 was appointed to a similar post in the Collegium Romanum...

     (1794–1876), theologian
  • Roberto Rosato
    Roberto Rosato
    Roberto Rosato was an Italian footballer.He played for 15 seasons in the Serie A for A.C. Torino, A.C. Milan and Genoa C.F.C....

    (1943–2010)- football player

External links




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