Priero is a small town and ''

comune 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 City status in Italy, titl ...

'' of the

Langhe The Langhe (; ''Langa'' is from old dialect Mons Langa et Bassa Langa) is a hilly area to the south and east of the river Tanaro in the provinces of Cuneo and Asti in Piedmont, northern Italy. It is famous for its wines, cheeses, and truffles� ...

, located east of

Ceva Ceva, the ancient Ceba, is a small Italy, Italian town in the province of Cuneo, region of Piedmont, east of Cuneo. It lies on the right bank of the Tanaro River, Tanaro on a wedge of land between that river and the Cevetta stream. History In th ...

in the

Province of Cuneo The province of Cuneo (; ) is a province in the Piedmont region of Italy. To the west, it borders the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ( departments of Alpes-Maritimes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes), to the north the ...

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 ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Presently it has a population of 441.

History

The original settlement, on a hill called Poggio to the south of the present village, dates from around the beginning of the second millennium. A ''

pieve In Italy in the Middle Ages, a ''pieve'' (, ; ; : ''pievi'') was a rural church with a baptistery, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended. ''Pieve'' is also an Italian and Corsican term signifying the medieval ecclesiastical/a ...

'', dedicated to the Virgin Mary, had authority over the churches at Costelnuovo, Montezemolo,

Osiglia Osiglia ( Ligurian and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about west of Genoa and about west of Savona. Osiglia borders the following municipalities: Bormida, Calizzano, Millesimo ...

, Calizzano Murialdo and Perlo while the fortified '' ricetto'' was the seat of a ''

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...

'' appointed directly by the

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

. In the mid-14th century the Marquis of Ceva became Lord of Priero and in 1387 plans were drawn up for the construction of the settlement, which forms the basis of today's Priero.

Main sights

The village preserves its 14th-century layout. The remains of the old castle, the defensive walls and their towers are all visible. The church of Santi Antonio e Giuliano, first constructed in 1494, retains its original campanile. The rest of the building, however was demolished in the late 17th century and rebuilt in 1716 to plans by F. Gallo.

People

Sylvester Mazzolini Sylvester Mazzolini, in Italian Silvestro Mazzolini da Prierio, in Latin Sylvester Prierias (1456/1457–1527), was a theologian born at Priero, Piedmont; he died at Rome. Prierias perished when the imperial troops forced their way into t ...

da Prierio (1456–57 – 1523)

References

''Comune di Priero''
at vallinrete.org
Cities and towns in Piedmont Comunità Montana Valli Mongia, Cevetta e Langa Cebana {{Cuneo-geo-stub