Comune Cereseto

via Roma, 32 - 15020 Cereseto (AL)
Tel. +39 (0142) 940.185
Fax: +39 (0142) 940.020
E-mail: demografici@comune.cereseto.al.it
http://www.comune.cereseto.al.it

Cereseto stands out like a gem among the green hills of Monferrato. Dominated by its imposing castle with its many towers, one of the most beautiful in the entire area. It's important to remember that just a stone's throw from Cereseto is the renowned Sanctuary of the Madonna di Crea. The village, built near the ancient Abbey of San Cassiano, was enfeoffed by followers of Ardoino d'Ivrea and then confiscated from the Saxon knight Granseverto, his supporter. It later became a possession of the monasteries of Novalesa and Breme, and of the Aleramic and Paleologus marquises of Monferrato. At the end of the 16th century, Vincenzo I of Gonzaga granted it to Germanico Sarvognan, builder of the citadel of Casale Monferrato. After the devastation of the 17th century, the castle was reduced and restored by the Counts De-Maistre Lovera di Maria, and in 1912 rebuilt from the ground up by Riccardo Gualino.
The toponym is actually a phytonym: Ceresa is a variant of Cerasa, a dialect term used to refer to the cherry tree and its fruit; -etum is a simple suffix. Cereseto could therefore refer to a place rich in cherry trees. The form Cerexetus first appears in 1020, and Ceresetus in 1224.

(Text and image from the municipality's website)