Cerrina Monferrato (population about 1,600) is a commune in the

Province of Alessandria The province of Alessandria (; ; in Piedmontese of Alessandria: ''provinsa ëd Lissändria'') is an Italian Provinces of Italy, province, with a population of some 425,000, which forms the southeastern part of the region of Piedmont. The prov ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

region

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, located about east of

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 city is main ...

and about northwest of

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

. Its municipal borders enclose an area of ranging in elevation from above sea level. The commune borders

Gabiano Gabiano (Gabian in Piedmontese) is a rural ''comune'' in the northwest of the province of Alessandria, some west of Casale Monferrato. This area straddles the lowland immediately south of the Po and the furthest extension of the Monferrato hil ...

to the north,

Mombello Monferrato Mombello 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 Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and ...

to the east, Castelletto Merli and

Odalengo Piccolo Odalengo Piccolo (Audalengh Cit in Piedmontese) is a commune (''comune'') of the Province of Alessandria in the northwest Italian region Piedmont. It is located in the Val Cerrina about east of Turin, about north of Asti and some southwest of ...

to the south, and

Odalengo Grande Odalengo Grande (Audalengh Grand in Piedmontese) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northwest of Alessandria. Odalengo Grande borders the following ...

and Villamiroglio to the west. The two principal population centres are Valle Cerrina which had a population of 583 at the time of the 2001 census, and Cerrina itself, the historic centre and ''

capoluogo A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the title of (). Formed ac ...

'' which had a population of 353. Montalero (pop. 35) and Rosingo (pop. 261) were both communes in their own right until 1928. The other settlements include Montaldo, Piancerreto and Gaminella: although the last lies mostly within the commune of Mombello Monferrato.Sandro Lombardini
''Comune di Cerrina'', Schede storico-territoriali dei comuni del Piemonte, (Regione Piemonte, 2002).

History

In 2005 Cerrina was the centre of swarms of locusts or grasshoppers (the local '' Calliptamus italicus'') which, unprecedented in their magnitude and moving at speeds of up to , threatened the vineyards of Monferrato and the province of Asti.John Phillips
‘Plague of locusts threatens Italian vineyards’
''The Independent'', 23 July 2005.

References

Cities and towns in Piedmont {{Alessandria-geo-stub