Urban Tours of Valenza

Gold, art, passion

PERCORSI URBANI (URBAN TOURS)

"Percorsi Urbani" is the initiative supported by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Alessandria, designed to get to know the cities and towns of the province of Alessandria through engaging visual storytelling. Original illustrations and routes between iconic monuments and hidden corners, enhancing culture and landscape. A fascinating experience designed for tourists and citizens.

Watch Fabio De Vivo's video and retrace his itinerary which you can find on the map below, together with a description of the main points of interest.

Valenza

Nestled among the hills and the river plain, the Romans and before them the ancient Ligurians had chosen this strategically positioned area as a trading center and flourishing site for farming activities: today, Valenza Po is recognised internationally as one of the key centers of the production of goldsmith art.

Project created by Alexala with the contribution of the Cassa di Risparmio di Alessandria Foundation

The video by creator Fabio De Vivo was made possible by the project "Discovering lower Piedmont" created by the SLALA Foundation

Itenary

PIAZZA XXXI MARTIRI

Important buildings overlook this square:

il CATHEDRAL OF SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE
already mentioned in 1096, fully rebuilt in the early 17th century, the facade dates to the late 19th century; the interior is home to numerous works of art, including the painting of the Madonna del Rosario by Guglielmo Caccia dated 1620, the 14^th-century Crucifix of the High Altar, which is the oldest work present, the canopy belonging to the original church; attached to the building, the Museum of the Cathedral’s Works..
Il PALAZZO PELLIZZARI home to the Town hall, it dates to the late 18th century. Richly decorated internally, halfway up the large staircase which leads to the main floor is the bronze plaque, work of Giacomo Manzù with epigraph by Salvatore Quasimodo, Nobel for Literature in 1959, in memory of the victims of the resistance.
Il PALAZZO VALENTINO Former town hall, of medieval origin, rebuilt in the late 18th century, and now home to the Municipal Library and Municipal Culture Center since 1976, inaugurated after important renovation work for consolidation using exposed reinforced concrete, it has maintained the 18^th- century facade.
CHURCH of SS. ANNUNZIATA
Built starting from the late 17th century, it is a good example of Piedmontese Baroque
In CORSO GARIBALDI , pedestrian and shopping street, you meet the SOCIAL THEATER . inaugurated in 1861 which rises on the site of the Convent of San Francesco destroyed by a fire in 1842.
Former CONVENT OF SAN DOMENICO , inside a cloister with granite columns, on the ground floor, overlooking via IX Febbraio, the reconstruction of a goldsmith’s workshop of the early 20th century, part of MOD – Museo dell’Oreficeria Diffuso.
MUSOLINO PARK a 26-hectare urban river forest, picnic area, within walking distance from the central via Po.