Viating countercurrent, far from mass tourism, in Italy it is easy, if the destinations are the lesser -known art treasures of our cultural heritage, the largest in the world. Piedmont there is a territory to be discovered: the Langhe Monregalesi which have as “capital” Mondovì (Wedge).
The country church of San Fiorenzo in Bastia Mondovì (sanfiorenzo.org) The journey alone is worth: it houses the frescoed cycle of the largest frescoed cycle of Piedmontan illustrated “bible of the poor” that covers the walls entirely. The stories of the saints, the life and the passion of Christ, the paradise and the hell -dial and monsters including the simple people of the rural community of the time, and fascinate today’s visitors.
The representation of hell in the cycle of frescoes of the fifteenth century of the church of San Fiorenzo, in Bastia Mondovì (Cuneo).
The church of San Fiorenzo is open every Sunday, from 15 to 18, to guided tours, without booking. For extra -hour or midweek visits, just call a few days before at the number: 338 439 5585.
Langhe Monregalesi, walking “at high altitude” in the fresco dome
Not far away, In Vicoforte, instead the grandeur and majesty of the Regina Montis Regalis sanctuary, a masterpiece of the Piedmontese Baroque, surprises. A triumph of marbles and decorations with, at the center of the building, the temple and the image of the Madonna di Vico under the largest elliptical wet in the world, a colossal factory started in 1728 by the architect Francesco Gallo. To explore from another perspective, the Vicoforte Sanctuary are worn helmet, arag and carabiner, and you walk safely at 60 meters high, among the frescoes of the dome, an unforgettable “aerial” artistic experience.
The guided tour “Magnificat” (for reservations: kalata.it/es experience/santuario-di-vicoforte-magnifica-Cupola-Chipictic) allows you to go up, step after step, up to the paintings made from 1745 by Mattia Bortoloni and Felice Biella. The tour at altitude all around the dome, face to face with the Marian frescoes, is really fantastic. Then you go up again and reach the windshield, that is, the top of the sanctuary to look out to admire the panorama. After the exciting and fun “climb” of the sanctuary, do not miss the tour under the lops of red bricks of the building, a semicircular building in front of the sanctuary, And the stop at the Drai pastry shop, to taste the laugheds of puff pastry.
The Sanctuary of Vicoforte that boasts the largest elliptical dome in the world. Photo by Anna Maria d’Urso.
A touch of contemporary art
After the late Gothic and the Baroque, it is the turn of admiring the contemporary art that illuminates the ancient Chapel of San Rocco di Vicoforte with Site Specific installation Miracle by Emilio Ferro. The exhibition ScartimeInstead, he exhibits the works of the artist and designer Emanuel Gargano at Santo Stefano Resort (via Santo Stefano 11, Vicoforte) works on which the “time” intervenes, a chaotic and unpredictable force that affects and alters the matter. (The exhibition is open until 30 August 2025, every day, by reservation at the number: 333 643 6344. On Saturday from 10 to 20 and Sunday from 17 to 20).
A work exhibited at the “Scartime” exhibition of the artist and designer Emanuel Gargano. set up at Santo Stefano Resort, in Vicoforte.
Mondovì, the capital of the Meridiane
And if the time draws landscapes and inspires works of art, for centuries the Meridiane have marked the hours on the facades of the Palaces of Mondovì, both in the Breo district (downstream) and in the square (upstream). Identify them all, following the map of the municipality, is a sort of treasure hunt: one of the most beautiful is the sundial in St. Peter’s Square. With the Funicular by Giugiaro, which connects the two historic centers of Breo and Piazza, you arrive directly in Piazza Maggiore, whose beauty is born from the irregular shape, it is divided into two levels, is broken in two by a staircase, and is surrounded by some of the most important historic (with arcades) buildings in the city: The Palazzo dei Bressani, in a corner, with its crenellated roof, the Governor’s palace, the ancient city building, the Palazzo Fauzone of Germagnano, and the church of San Francesco Saverio, entirely frescoed, in the years 1675-77, by the Jesuit Andrea Pozzo. Do not miss a tour of the ceramic museum (Friday and Saturday 15-19, Sunday 10-19, Museoceramicamondovi.it), Housed in 17 rooms rich in frescoes and stuccos of the noble plane of Palazzo Fauzone di Germagnano, overlooking Piazza Maggiore. Showcase after showcase retraces the history of the industrial, artistic and cultural development of the Monregalese ceramic district from the Napoleonic era to the seventies of the twentieth century and you can admire six hundred precious or daily use pieces, decorated with the “lace” buffer or with the airbrush.
A room of the ceramic museum, in Mondovì Rione Piazza. Courtesy ceramic museum.
A trekking between green hills in the Monregalese Langhe
From Piazza Maggiore, after the Cathedral of San Donato, a jewel of the sumptuous Baroque ‘Rococo’ eighteenth -century, along the street named after its architect, Francesco Gallo, you reach the Giardini del Belvedere (with the fourteenth -century civic tower in the center) from where the gaze embraces a 360 degree panorama on the Langa Monregalese, framed by the tops of the Maritime Alps. Do not be in a hurry to reach the most famous places of the Langhe: Alba, La Morra, Grinzane Cavour, Cherasco, etc. Next between hills and vineyards with attention to gardens. The Monregalese in the spring has a lot to offer also to lovers of walks by bicycle or feet in nature. From the Sanctuary of Vicoforte part Landandè (Sentierolandande.it), the other Langhe path that touches the Belvedere di Briaglia and the Tanaro chapels.
Cyclists along the Path Other Langhe “Landandè”.
Culture? In Mondovì he was under pressure
A curiosity: the first book published in Piedmont, the De institutions confessorum of Sant’Antonino was printed in Mondovì in 1472. It was the start of the Monregalese typographic activity, flourishing in the mid -nineteenth century. It is not surprising therefore, finding The most complete public collection of machines and equipment for the existing print in Italy, exhibited at the Press Museum at the Orphane Complex (via Misericordia 3, Mondovì square, Museostamondovi.it).
The frescoes of the fifteenth century of the church of San Fiorenzo, in Bastia Mondovì.
Where to sleep in Piedmont in the Monregalese Langhe
Santo Stefano Relais
Via Santo Stefano 11, Vicoforte (Cuneo). In a former Benedictine monastery of the year one thousand, after a careful restoration, he has a small resort as a pogo that, in environments with a refined design, offers the possibility of a pleasant and relaxing stay between art and nature. The Cascina Santo Stefano, in the countryside between the Langhe and the localities of the Ligurian Alps, a few steps from the magnificent eighteenth -century sanctuary of Vicoforte, also hosts a biological farm. Booking.com/hotel/it/santo-stefano-abside.it.html ; Cascinasantostefano.it
The Abside Suite of Santo Stefano Relais, in Vicoforte.
Where to eat
Trattoria Osteria NuovaPiazza Carlevari 2, Rocca de ‘Baldi (Cuneo).
Trattoria Curata and high level. All the passion and love for cuisine curated in detail by chef Rosmilia Cravero shines through dishes.
Marsupinovia Roma 20, Briaglia.
Elegant place, with Piedmontese cuisine and a cellar with 800 labels, on the menu: Piedmontese veal tartare, delicate Melin of the Mel and ECCiuga bread, Tajarin at 30 yolks with the ragù of ox ox, agnolotti of the plin stuffed with the three roasted with the Bruno fund. trattoriamarsupino.it
Locanda dei BressaniPiazza Maggiore 13, Mondovì square.
Under the arcades of the magnificent square of Mondovì Alta, an intimate place, from the charm of the ancient. In the menu: the tonnato veal, the hunchbacked thistle and the fondue, the veal cheek braid at Barolo.
I woman © RESERVED REPRODUCTION