Squeezed between two streams, the Maira and the Mellea, in the 13th century Savigliano was one of the main free municipalities in the region. An agricultural, commercial and cultural center, the town experienced its golden age between the 1500s and the 1600s, when it was a candidate for the capital of the Duchy of Savoy and meanwhile the “Savigliano school,” one of the best expressions of Baroque in Piedmont, was established.

At the center of the so-called Lands of Savoy, the city has its beating heart in Piazza Santa Rosa, one of the best-preserved examples of medieval squares in Italy. The imposing Civic Tower, the 16th-century triumphal arch and the monument to Santorre di Santa Rosa, a noble patriot and revolutionary of the Italian Risorgimento to whom the square is dedicated, stand out. Imbued with Savigliano atmosphere, cafes, elegant establishments and businesses alternate under its arcades. A characteristic wrought-iron kiosk also houses the city Tourist Office.

Leaving the triumphal arch of Santa Rosa Square behind, one goes to the collegiate church of St. Andrew, with the 14th-century pictorial cycles of the Chapel of St. Nicholas, among the oldest in the city. Immediately following, in the Jerusalem district, is Palazzo Muratori Cravetta, a fine example of Mannerist architecture, and Palazzo Taffini d’Acceglio, now home to the Múses techno-sensory museum hub.

Also in the historic center are the evocative spaces of the Antonino Olmo Civic Museum and the Davide Calandra Gypsoteca, and the Santa Monica Monastery, now home to the city’s university campus. A short walk away is the 19th-century theater dedicated to violinists Maria and Teresa Milanollo, splendid in its neoclassical elegance. On the edge of town, the Piedmontese Railway Museum , on the other hand, celebrates the city’s industrial vocation: the terminus of the stretch of railroad that connected it to Turin in 1855, today it is home to Alstom, which specializes in the production of high-speed trains.

A network of greenery then connects Savigliano’s historic center to the Maira’s bike banks and to the surrounding countryside, with trekking and bicycle touring routes that, through rural landscapes typical of rural culture, reach as far as the Monviso mountains.

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And , if you have more time, taking the train will get you to the wonderful city of Turin, already the capital of Italy, in a flash (34 minutes).