Lanzo Torinese (''Lans'' in

Piedmontese Piedmontese (; autonym: or , in it, piemontese) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, northwestern region of Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate language, in Italy it is often mistakenly reg ...

and arpitan) is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin, region of

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, northwestern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It is located about northwest of

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

at the mouth of the

Valli di Lanzo The Lanzo Valleys (in Italian ''Valli di Lanzo'', in Piedmontese ''Valade ëd Lans'') is a group of valleys in the north-west of Piedmont in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Italy. Etymology The valleys take their name from the city of Lanzo, whi ...

History

Lanzo is mentioned in the early 11th century as ''Curtis Lanceii''. Later, under several names, was a fief (together with its namesake valleys) to the

bishop of Turin The Archdiocese of Turin ( la, Archidioecesis Taurinensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory of the Catholic Church in Italy.house of Savoy and of the

Marquisate of Montferrat The March (also ''margraviate'' or ''marquisate'') of Montferrat was a frontier march of the Kingdom of Italy during the Middle Ages and a state of the Holy Roman Empire. The margraviate was raised to become the Duchy of Montferrat in 1574. O ...

. In the mid-16th century the Castle of Lanzo, considered amongst the most important in

, was besieged, stormed (1551) and destroyed by French troops under Charles de Brissac (1551–52). Of the former fortifications, only the gate entrance of the town has remained to this day. After the

Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

(1559), the town was returned to Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy. After his death, Lanzo was assigned to his daughter Maria (1577), wife of Philip of Este. The Este government brought decline to Lanzo and its valleys, as it lost most of the previous privileges. In 1725 the fief went to Count Giuseppe Ottavio Cacherano Osasco della Rocca. In 1792, his family remained without an heir and Lanzo went to the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

. In 1798, during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

, Lanzo was first captured by the Austrians. After the

battle of Marengo The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. Near the end of the day, the French overcame General Mich ...

, it became the capital of a French ''

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements ...

'' and, later, the district capital. After the 1815 Restoration, it followed the history of Piedmont and, from 1861, that of the newly unified

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

. In the 19th century, Lanzo changed from a mainly agricultural centre into a vacation seat for people from Turin, a trend spurred by the railway connection inaugurated in 1876. Also in this period, the first mechanical, textile and paper industries were established.

Main sights

*The ''Ponte del diavolo'' (" Devil's Bridge"), a bridge spanning the Stura di Lanzo built in 1376. It was built to connect Lanzo to Turin avoiding passage in territories ruled by the Prince of Acaja of the Marquesses of Montferrat, both hostile to the House of Savoy. *Civic Tower of Aymon of Challant (1329–57). *Church of Santa Maria del Borgo (16th century) *Parish church of San Pietro in Vincoli *Church of Santa Croce (13th century)

Cuisine

According to tradition, the '' grissino'' (breadstick) was invented here by Teobaldo Pecchio and Antonio Brunero in 1679.

References

External links

Official website
Canavese {{Turin-geo-stub