Pinerolo

Pinerolo
—  Comune  —
Città di Pinerolo
Coat of arms
Pinerolo Location of Pinerolo in Italy
Coordinates: 44°53′N 07°20′E / 44.883°N 7.333°E / 44.883; 7.333
Country	Italy
Region	Piedmont
Province	Turin (TO)
Frazioni	Abbadia Alpina, Baudenasca, Riva di Pinerolo, Talucco
Government
• Mayor	Eugenio Buttiero (PD)
Area
• Total	50 km2 (20 sq mi)
Elevation	376 m (1,234 ft)
Population (30 April 2009)
• Total	35,683
• Density	710/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Demonym	Pinerolesi
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	10064
Dialing code	0121
Patron saint	San Donato
Saint day	Monday after last Sunday of August
Website	Official website

Pinerolo (French: Pignerol) is a town and comune in north-western Italy, 40 kilometres southwest of Turin on the river Chisone.

History

In the Middle Ages, the town of Pinerolo was one of the main crossroads in Italy, and was therefore one of the principal fortresses of the dukes of Savoy. Its military importance was the origin of the well-known military school that still exists today. The fortress of Fenestrelle is nearby.

The earliest mention of Pinerolo is in the tenth century, when it belonged to the March of Turin and was governed by the abbot nullius of Pinerolo who ran the abbey of Abbadia Alpina, even after the city had established itself as a municipality (1247) under the government of Thomas Savoy.

From 1235, Amadeus IV of Savoy exercised over the town a kind of protectorate which became absolute in 1243, and was continued thereafter either by the house of Savoy, or of Savoy-Acaia.

When French troops invaded Piedmont (1536), Pinerolo was conquered and it remained under their control until 1574.

With the treaty of Cherasco it again fell to France (1631).

France agreed to hand back Pinerolo to the house of Savoy under the Treaty of Turin (1696) with the conditions that its stronghold's fortifications were demolished and that Savoy withdrew from the League of Augsburg against Louis XIV.

The 2011 Tour de France featured a stage in the area.

Main sights

• the Cathedral dates from the 9th century, and has an attractive bell tower
• church of San Maurizio, in Gothic style.

Notable Pinerolesi

People born in Pinerolo include:

• Lidia Poët (born 1855), the first Italian female lawyer and an important figure in female emancipation
• Luigi Facta (1861–1930), politician, journalist and last Prime Minister of Italy before the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini
• Ferruccio Parri (1890–1981), partisan and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy for several months in 1945

People who died here include:

• Anna Canalis di Cumiana (1680–1769) (morganatic spouse of King Victor Amadeus) died in the convent here
• Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux, (1615–1680) superintendent of Finances in France under Louis XIV, died in Pignerol.

Sports

• The venue Pinerolo Palaghiaccio hosted curling events at the 2006 Winter Olympics.^[1]

Trivia

• The "Man in the Iron Mask" was imprisoned in Pinerolo from 1669.
• Nicolas Fouquet, Marquis of Belle-Ile, was imprisoned in Pinerolo from 1665 to his death in 1680.
• The Montevideo football team Peñarol takes its name from the Montevideo suburb of Pinerolo, which in turn takes its name from this town.

Twin cities

• Gap, France, since 1963
• Traunstein, Germany, since 1986
• San Francisco, Argentina, since 1996
• Derventa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, since 2005

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pinerolo

See also

• Diocese of Pinerolo

References