Chieri cultural heritage of the late Middle Ages between the Gothic and Renaissance period is impressive, notwithstanding huge losses. It begins with the extraordinary cycle of the Story of the life of Christ painted in the baptistery of the collegiate church of Santa Maria della Scala (Duomo) by Guglielmetto Fantini, Leggi tutto…
Assistance to the poor, the ill and to orphans was left to the Christian charity of private citizens and to the hospital orders. In some towns the poor were received in small hospitals, which later joined to become the Ospedale Maggiore (the general hospital). The “House of Alms” also took Leggi tutto…
In the late middle ages Chieri was a prosperous municipality with a territory which included Asti, Moncalieri and Turin. It was controlled via a series of castles and a web of political connections precociously integrated into the Savoy-Acaia state (1347). The patrimony of medieval art therefore saw a profound re-visitation Leggi tutto…
Towards the end of the 15th century Chieri had approximately ten thousand inhabitants as opposed to four thousand in Turin. The earnings from multiple economic activities were used to finance the construction of the new city, which was tinged with the red and brown of terracotta, with stamped designs of Leggi tutto…
In the second half of the 14th century Chieri was the most important centre of the Turin area, thanks to significant privileges such as mercantile exemptions along the routes and the Alpine passes that led to areas of great financial and commercial interest (Savoy, Burgundy and Flanders). These were the Leggi tutto…
Towards the end of the 13th century the local lords, many craftsmen and merchants from the villages and the countryside, flooded into the town. The new middle class united in the “Society of San Giorgio” and challenged the ancient military aristocracy of the “Society of San Guglielmo”. The latter had Leggi tutto…
The bishop, in charge of the Chieri “Dominion” together with Count Guido of Biandrate, on 7th April 1168, authorized the men of Chieri to meet and to appoint consuls- political institutions which testify to the birth of the Municipality. In Mercadillo Square (Mazzini Square today) the town council met. Begining Leggi tutto…
The battle by the people of Chieri to gain independence from the power of the bishop and his allies – the empire and the vassal counts of Biandrate – began in the 12th century. In 1155 Federico Barbarossa, in agreement with Carlo, bishop of Turin, sent the army against them. Leggi tutto…
Characterized by the emergence of the Holy Roman Empire and the temporal power of the church, the early Middle Ages end with the year 1000. Chieri appears as a rural village, an imperial “Curtis” under the control of Landolfo, the bishop of Turin. In his testament (1037) he recalls that Leggi tutto…
Carreum suffered a drastic demographic decline and a downsizing of the town from the end of the second century AD, probably due to the hydrogeological instability that caused the landslide of the unstable hill of San Giorgio with the consequent abandonment of large sections of the city. In the area Leggi tutto…
