Cella Monte 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 ...
'' (
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares ...
) in the
Province of Alessandria
The Province of Alessandria ( it, Provincia di Alessandria; pms, Provincia ëd Lissandria; in Piedmontese of Alessandria: ''Provinsa ëd Lissändria'') is an Italian province, with a population of some 425,000, which forms the southeastern part o ...
in the
Italian region of
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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, located about east 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. Th ...
and about northwest of
Alessandria. It has roughly 509
residents.
Cella Monte borders the following municipalities:
Frassinello Monferrato
Frassinello Monferrato is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northwest of Alessandria.
Frassinello Monferrato borders the following municipalities: ...
,
Ottiglio
Ottiglio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northwest of Alessandria.
Ottiglio borders the following municipalities: Casorzo, Cella Monte, Cere ...
,
Ozzano Monferrato,
Rosignano Monferrato
Rosignano Monferrato is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northwest of Alessandria. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,659 and an ar ...
, and
Sala Monferrato.
Name
There are two different theories about the origin of the name: one is about
wine cellars and the other one about small
monasteries
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...
.
According to the first one the name may derive from the
wine cellars that were dug into the
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
, which is really common in this geographical area. These cellars, called ''infernot'', even though are not being used anymore they still exist nowadays and can be visited.
The other theory is about the small
monasteries
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...
which in Italian are called ''Celle.''
The name appeared for the first time in a document signed by the Emperor Arrigo V in 1116.
History
References
*https://borghipiubelliditalia.it/borgo/cella-monte/
Cities and towns in Piedmont
{{Alessandria-geo-stub