๐ฎ๐น Alba is a town and comune of Piedmont, Italy, in the Province of Cuneo. It is one of the main cities in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato. The town is famous for its white truffle and wine production. The confectionery group Ferrero is based there. The city joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in October 2017.
1History Alba's origins date from before the Roman civilization, connected probably to the presence of Celtic and Ligurian tribes in the area.
The modern town occupies the site of ancient Alba Pompeia, the name given after being officially recognised as a town by the Roman consul Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo while constructing a road from Aquae Statiellae (Acqui) to Augusta Taurinorum (Turin). Alba was the birthplace of Publius Helvius Pertinax, briefly Roman emperor in 193.
After the fall of the Western Empire, the city was repeatedly sacked by Ostrogoths, Burgundians, Byzantines, Lombards, Franks, Hungarians and Saracens. In the 11th century it became a free commune (or city-state) and was a member of the Lombard League. Montferrat and the Visconti fought over the town; later it became a possession of the Gonzaga. Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy conquered it twice, while later France and Spain battled for its possession. The Treaty of Cherasco (1631) assigned Alba definitively to Savoy. During Napoleonic Wars, it was part of the Republic of Alba (1796) and of the Subalpine Republic, both French clients, before being annexed to the French Empire in 1802. It was an arrondissement centre in firstly Tanaro department between 1802 and 1805, later in Stura one between 1805 and 1814 before liberation by Austrian troops. It was returned to the Kingdom of Sardinia (Duchy of Savoy's name after gaining Sardinia in 1720) in 1814.
Alba won a Gold Medal for Military Valour for the heroic activity of its citizens in the Italian resistance movement during the course of World War II. On 10 October 1944, the town was liberated by partisans who established a Republic of Alba which for a few weeks was able to maintain its independence from the Fascist Republic of Salรฒ. The republic lasted until 2 November 1944, when the Republic of Salo retook it. French troops finally liberated it on 2 May 1945.
1Geography Approximately located at about 50ย km from the cities of Turin and Cuneo, Alba is placed on the right side of the river Tanaro. The climate is typically more drought than in other lands at the north of the Po river.
1Tourist Industry Of the Roman city, which had a polygonal form, parts of the fortified gate and remains of some edifices with marble and mosaics can still be seen.
Other attractions include: โข Palazzo Comunale (13th century): city hall housing a Nativity (1501) by Macrino d'Alba. โข City towers (14th and 15th centuries): Alba was once known as the "City with hundred towers". โข Duomo of San Lorenzo (12th-century): Roman Catholic cathedral built in Romanesque style, probably atop an Ancient Roman temple. It was restructured multiple times over the centuries, starting in the 15th century in a reconstruction patronized by bishop Andrea Novelli. The current appearance derives from a controversial 19th-century restoration; however, the three portals and the crypt remain from the original edifice. The church is well known for its wood-carved choir made in 1512 by Bernardino Fossati. The current belfry, from the 12th century, includes the original bell tower entirely. โข San Domenico (13th-14th centuries): Gothic architecture church housing much of the most salient sacred artworks in town. It has a noteworthy portal with a triple arch within a pointed arch, a polygonal apse, and traces of Renaissance frescoes. During the Napoleonic Wars it was used a stable, but reconsecrated on 22 June 1827. โข St John the Baptist (San Giovanni Battista): Baroque architecture church housing a Madonna of the Graces (1377) by Barnaba da Modena and a Madonna with Saints (1508) by Macrino d'Alba. โข Santa Maria Maddalena (late-18th century): small late-Baroque church designed by Bernardo Antonio Vittone and housing the relics of Blessed Margaret of Savoy.
The city museums include the Federico Eusebio Civic Museum of Archaeology and Natural Sciences.
1Economy In addition to traditional agriculture, Alba is a very important centre of wine. In the area of Alba, in fact, there are 290 wineries that cultivate an area of 700 hectares (1,700 acres) of land, producing an average of 61,200 hL of wine annually.
The wines of Alba are among the most renowned in Italy and are divided into: โข DOC: Barbera, Dolcetto, Nebbiolo. โข DOCG: Barbaresco, Barolo, Moscato.
The city has a thriving economy, boasting the confectionery industry's world-renowned Ferrero, the publishing house Societร San Paolo and the textile firm Miroglio.
The town also houses the largest cooperative credit bank of Italy, by number of partners, the Banca d'Alba, and the international food chain Eataly. UniEuro, the Italian chain of stores specialising in household electrical appliances and acquired by Dixons Retail in 2002, was also established in Alba.
Alba is also famous worldwide for its white truffles, and its annual Truffle Festival.
1Sport The town's football club, A.S.D. Albese Calcio has been in existence since 1917.
1Alba has a population of over 31,215 people. Alba also forms one of the centres of the wider Cuneo Province which has a population of over 590,309 people.
To set up a UBI Lab for Alba see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork
Alba is a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for Gastronomy see: https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities
Twin Towns, Sister Cities Alba has links with:
๐ง๐ช Arlon, Belgium ๐ธ๐ฐ Banskรก Bystrica, Slovak Republic ๐ซ๐ท Beausoleil, France ๐ฉ๐ช Bรถblingen, Germany ๐น๐ท Giresun, Turkey ๐บ๐ธ Medford, USA ๐ช๐ธ Sant Cugat del Vallรจs, Spain ๐ฆ๐ท Sastre, Argentina UNESCO Creative Cities for Gastronomy include:
๐น๐ท Afyonkarasihar
๐ฎ๐น Alba
๐ต๐ช Arequipa
๐ฐ๐ญ Battambang
๐ง๐ท Belรฉm
๐ง๐ท Belo Horizonte
๐ฆ๐บ Bendigo
๐ฎ๐น Bergamo
๐ณ๐ด Bergen
๐จ๐ด Buenaventura
๐ช๐ธ Burgos
๐จ๐ณ Chaozhou
๐จ๐ณ Chengdu
๐ง๐ด Cochabamba
๐ช๐ธ Dรฉnia
๐ฒ๐ฝ Ensenada
๐ง๐ท Florianรณpolis
๐จ๐ญ Fribourg
๐ฐ๐ท Gangneung
๐น๐ท Gaziantep
๐น๐ท Hatay
๐ฌ๐ท Heraklion
๐ฟ๐ฆ Hermanus
๐ฎ๐ณ Hyderabad
๐ต๐ญ Iloilo City
๐ฐ๐ท Jeonju
๐ฒ๐ด Macao
๐ฒ๐ฝ Mรฉrida
๐จ๐ฒ Nkongsamba
๐ธ๐ช รstersund
๐ฟ๐ฆ Overstrand Hermanus
๐ต๐ฆ Panama City
๐ง๐ท Paraty
๐ฎ๐น Parma
๐น๐ญ Phuket
๐จ๐ด Popayรกn
๐ช๐จ Portoviejo
๐ฎ๐ท Rasht
๐บ๐ธ San Antonio
๐จ๐ณ Shunde
๐ฏ๐ต Tsuruoka
๐บ๐ธ Tucson
๐จ๐ณ Yangzhou
๐ฑ๐ง Zahlรฉ
See Also: ๐ท๐ด Alba Iulia, Alba County, Transylvania, Romania | ๐ช๐ธ Albacete, Castile-La Mancha, Spain | ๐ฎ๐น Albano Laziale, Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio Region, Italy | ๐ณ๐ฟ Albany, Auckland Region, North Island, New Zealand | ๐บ๐ธ Albany, California, United States | ๐บ๐ธ Albany, Georgia, United States | ๐บ๐ธ Albany, Kentucky, United States | ๐บ๐ธ Albany, New York, United States | ๐บ๐ธ Albany, Oregon, United States | ๐ฆ๐บ Albany, Western Australia, Australia | ๐ฆ๐ท Albardรณn, San Juan Province, Argentina | ๐ฎ๐น Albavilla, Province of Como, Lombardy, Italy | ๐ต๐ญ Albay, Bicol Region, Philippines
๐ท๐บ Novorossiysk 44.723
๐บ๐ฆ Bakhchysarai 44.758
๐บ๐ธ Traverse City 44.767
๐ง๐ฆ Banja Luka 44.772
๐ฎ๐น Reggio Emilia 44.696
๐บ๐ธ Plattsburgh 44.683
๐ฉ๐ช Cloppenburg 8.035
๐ฉ๐ช Osnabrรผck 8.048
๐ฉ๐ช Ingelheim am Rhein 8.05
๐ฉ๐ช Limburg an der Lahn 8.05
๐ฉ๐ช Bad Schwalbach 8.069
๐ฉ๐ช Rheingau-Taunus 8.081
Locations Near: Alba 8.03333,44.7
๐ฎ๐น Asti 8.2,44.9 d: 25.8
๐ฎ๐น Chieri 7.822,45.013 d: 38.6
๐ฎ๐น Turin 7.681,45.073 d: 49.9
๐ฎ๐น Cuneo 7.547,44.389 d: 51.8
๐ฎ๐น Savona 8.483,44.3 d: 57
๐ฎ๐น Alessandria 8.61,44.909 d: 51.1
๐ฎ๐น Vercelli 8.422,45.334 d: 76.8
๐ฎ๐น Imperia 8.032,43.888 d: 90.3
Antipodal to: Alba -171.967,-44.7
๐น๐ด Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 17378
๐ฆ๐ธ Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 16630.3
๐ผ๐ธ Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 16582.8
๐ต๐ซ Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 16344.5
๐บ๐ธ Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 12649.3
๐บ๐ธ Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 12571.9
๐บ๐ธ Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 12559.5
๐บ๐ธ Wailuku -156.505,20.894 d: 12554.2