Comune Moncestino

piazza Marconi, 3 - 15020 Moncestino (AL)
Tel. +39 (0142) 945.061
Fax: +39 (0142) 945.620
E-mail: info@comune.moncestino.al.it
http://www.comune.moncestino.al.it/

It is believed that the first settlement dates back to 101 BC, when, during the initial phase of the Battle of Campi Raudii, a town in the lower Vercelli area, the consul Gaius Marius defeated and annihilated the Cimbrian populations who had settled in the area. The inhabitants of Ceste, perhaps foreseeing a sad end at the hands of the Romans, moved to the hill and established the first settlements. From then on, the hill was generically called Mons Cestini (Mount of the Cestini), the origin of today's Moncestino. However, not only the Celts inhabited the Moncestino area, but also other peoples who left traces, sometimes clearer, sometimes more uncertain, such as the Ligurians, the Romans, the Lombards, and the Saracens.
The origin of the toponym Moncestino is therefore certainly Celtic and is reflected in other toponyms still existing in the area, such as: regione dolia, varnea, varisella. However, other populations and cultures also alternated in the territory, traces of which remain both in the typical dialect expressions and, as already mentioned, in some toponyms.
In the Moncestino area, settlements existed before the year 1000 (978), as can be deduced from the investiture of Villamiroglio by the bishop of Vercelli, Eusebio De Curtis de Bugiella, in favor of Uberto de Miroglio and his brother Filippo. This investiture granted dominion over various properties, including the hamlets of Coggia and Seminenga, of which Corrado di Miroglio was lord. The investiture of Moncestino took place in 1245, when, on September 12, Marquis Boniface of Monferrato invested Giacomo, Guglielmo, Carlo, Alcheria, and Giacomino di Miroglio, united in a consortium, with a mountain called Moncestino, which lies on the right bank of the Po River, in the Miroglio estates, between Gabiano and Verrua, for himself and his heirs. The Miroglio lords were required to fortify the mountain and live there with thirty families or more if they wished, which is why September 12, 1245, is considered the birth date of the Municipality of Moncestino.
The two territories remained entirely under the Miroglio family until 1407, the year of the territorial division of the two communities.
Many noble families succeeded one another after the extinction of the Miroglio family in 1790: Scarampi, Callori, Del Carretto (whose last heir was mayor of Moncestino from 1946 to 1951), and many invaders also plundered the village at different times: French, Spanish, German; all left some trace of their presence on the community.

(TEXT AND IMAGES EXTRACT FROM THE MUNICIPALITY WEBSITE)