Ciriè

Access

Leaving the [A5] motorway at Volpiano, proceed along the SP in the direction of Lenì, then Caselle until you reach Ciriè.

Introduction

Between art and history in the 'Delizia' of the Marquises of Oria.

Description

The itinerary starts from the information office in Via Rosmini, at the municipal offices of the outbuilding of Villa Remmert. The prestigious residence of the Remmert family, built on a project by engineer Pietro Fenoglio between 1902 and 1906, is inspired by the Art Nouveau style and is characterised by the use of curved, elegant lines developed in floral motifs. Other examples of engineer Fenoglio's work are the Villino Scott, the Conservatorio del Santo Suffragio in Turin and the famous Quartiere delle case operarie of the Cotonificio Leumann in Collegno. The historic residence, purchased by the Municipality of Ciriè in 1988, has recently been renovated and turned into a venue for art exhibitions. 

Across Piazza d'Oria, we walk along a stretch of arcades in the direction of the railway station and arrive at Palazzo D'Oria. The palace was built at the end of the 15th century at the behest of the illustrious Provana family: in 1576 it became the home of the ancient and powerful Ligurian D'Oria family, as part of the exchange that allowed the Savoys to gain access to the sea with the acquisition of Oneglia. However, the Savoys continued to frequent the palace, dedicating it an important role in the 'crown of delights' that they created in various areas of the Province of Turin. The Ciriacese seat reached its maximum splendour in the second half of the 17th century, when Charles Emmanuel II began to use it regularly, so much so that one wing of the palace was used as his private flat.
The architectural complex was equipped with a large park with a lake, an 'orangerie' and a fence to protect it from the prying eyes of the burghers. Over the centuries, the D'Oria family enriched the interior with canvases on mythological subjects, chinoiserie and some eighty family portraits, also by important court painters, which are now preserved in the gallery housing the historical library. The palace remained the property of the D'Oria family until 1909, when the Prussian business family Remmert bought it and donated it to the city as the seat of the municipality.

Exiting on the opposite side of the entrance from Palazzo D'Oria, along Via Dante and Via Roma, we find the chapel of Santa Maria di Loreto; opposite we take Via Vittorio Emanuele, the old Via Maestra. Past the Church of the Spirito Santo, we turn right into Via Macario, then left into the evocative and ancient Vicolo Ospedale (Hospital Alley), which takes us to Piazza Castello, from which we continue along Corso Nazioni Unite, to the left, to reach the Torre di San Rocco, a solitary witness to the fortified centre of medieval Ciriè. Situated north-west of the city, it corresponded to one of the four corners of the perimeter walls of the ancient castle, built in the second half of the 12th century by order of the house of Monferrato. It reached its greatest splendour in the 14th century under the marquise Margherita di Savoia who, as evidenced by the castellan's accounts of 1306 and 1307, had it fitted out for her court. The manor house was then irreparably destroyed in the 16th century.

From the tower we take Via Don Giordano, turn left into Via Montebello and immediately right into Via Santo Sudario, where stands the eponymous Church, whose primitive construction dates back to the 15th century: on the ancient chapel were added subsequent enlargements (16th century), following the establishment in Ciriè of the Confraternity of the Holy Shroud in 1521 (the first in Italy and the second in Europe after Chambéry). The building underwent alterations and extensions between the 17th and 18th centuries, variously attributed to architects Amedeo di Castellamnonte and Francesco Lanfranchi and to Lugano workers. The elegant façade is enriched by the dynamism of cusps, volutes and niches. Inside, there are many references to the Sacred Linen, with reproductions in frescoes, paintings, sculptures and furnishings. Notable works include the faux inlaid altar by Pietro Solari of Como, the 18th-century wooden choir, the orchestra with organ and the apsidal Shroud painting dating back to 1791.

Continuing along Via Santo Sudario we again come to Via Vittorio Emanuele from which, turning right, we reach the baroque Church of St. Joseph, whose origin is intimately linked to the history and life of Ciriè: it was in fact built by the people of Ciriè between 1932 and 1937 in compliance with the general vow of the population on the occasion of the plague of 1630-1631. In 1647, the parish seat that had been in the nearby Church of San Martino, by then inadequate and in precarious condition, was moved there.
The building is rich in stuccoes, marbles and paintings, and conserves valuable works of art inside, including an altarpiece attributed to Defendente ferrari, commissioned by the Corporazione dei Mercanti della Lana in 1516. çs large altarpiece of the high altar, depicting the Madonna and Child seated on a high predella surrounded by saints, is a painting on wood panels attributed until now to Ottaviano Cane, a 16th-century painter originally from Trino Vercellese, whose works are also conserved in the Pinacoteca Reale in Turin; but during the recent restoration of the painting, it was suggested that the author may have been a Franco-Flemish artist trained in Italy.
In the oratory is the 'Nativity scene under the snow', a singular representation of the mystery of Christmas set in the reality of the nearby mountains of the Lanzo Valleys.

Following Via Vittorio Emanuele and then Via Lanzo, we come to Piazza San Martino, where the Church of San Martino di Liramo, considered one of the most interesting examples of Romanesque religious architecture in Piedmont and a National Monument since 1910.
It was originally part of the rural settlement outside the village walls: built at the beginning of the 11th century with a single nave, it was later enlarged with the addition of other side aisles when the structure acquired greater importance thanks to the construction of the castle; after the erection of the Church of San Giuspee inside the village, it was abandoned and fell into ruin.
The two major apses are entirely decorated with 13th-15th century frescoes, which are still discreetly visible; the bell tower, made of fragments of Roman bricks and river pebbles, consists of seven storeys characterised by slits, string-course cornices, single, double and triple lancet windows decorated with hanging arches.

Turning back, we take Via Vittorio Emanuele again, whose importance is rooted in the centuries. In fact, along this street we still find some elegant buildings in Piedmontese Gothic style (house numbers 179, 97, 91, 85), adorned with pointed arches and terracotta decorations. At house number 100 is a square tower that was probably part of the house of the noble Cavalerio and Graziani families, now called Torre Ampalla. Under the arcades of Via Vittorio Emanuele, the commercial life of the city took place and the market was held on set days.

Further along Via Vittorio Emanuele, we turn into Via San Ciriaco and reach the Duomo di San Giovanni Battista, National Monument since 1887. The church represents a remarkable example of the Piedmontese Gothic style: it was in fact taken as a model by the architect Alfredo D'Andrade for the construction of the church of the Borgo Medioevale of Turin on the occasion of the 1884 exhibition. The building was erected between the 13th and 14th centuries, possibly on the foundations of a pre-Christian temple dedicated to the hunting goddess Diana. The apse was rebuilt in the 18th century with the addition of the high altar by Bernardo Antonio Vittone. In the left aisle of the cathedral is a precious altarpiece by Defendente Ferrari depicting the Madonna del Popolo (1519) and a 13th-century wooden crucifix, a fine example of medieval Piedmontese-Aostaean sculpture. At the end of the right aisle we find the tombs of the D'Oria family and, behind the high altar, a triptych representing the baptism of Jesus Christ, painted by Giuseppe Giovenone in 1531.
At the end of the left aisle, above the altar is a terracotta statuary group depicting the Mourning of the Dead Christ.

From the cathedral we reach the nearby tree-lined avenue and turn right along Piazza D'Oria and then into Via Rosmini (Villa Remmert). After a good stretch, we take the second left (Via Trivero); having passed Piazza Vittime dell'Ipca we reach Via Brunero, pass the railway level crossing and turn left into Via Monte Grappa. We then take the first right (Via Milano), at the end we turn right into Via Rossetti and then left into Via dei Pioppi; after the subway we turn right and continue until we come to Via Robaronzino: here we turn left and continue as far as the farmstead of the same name, which is clearly visible as it still retains much of its original 17th-century structure with a stone and brick boundary wall.
The Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli dominates the complex with its Baroque brick bell tower. The building's exterior, linear and simple, does not reveal the Rococo 'treasure trove' preserved inside: paintings by Pietro Francesco Guala, polychrome marble altar, apse and walls decorated with stucco figures of angels unique in their plasticity and colours.

From the Robaronzino farmstead, we retrace our steps, retracing our route in reverse to the parking lot in Piazza Vittime dell'Ipca where we can observe the Ciriè 2000 multifunctional complex, a symbol of the city's industrial development that took off in the last decades of the 19th century thanks above all to the Remmert family of textile entrepreneurs who, having come from Germany, settled in Cirip in 1874 to set up a series of factories. The Remmerts owned a large area between today's Via Rosmini and Via Mazzini, where they built their most important factory, the so-called Biancheria, a blanket factory: part of this large industrial site has been saved from demolition because of its particular architecture designed by the engineer Pietro Fenoglio.
During its heyday, the Remmert family owned six textile factories in the town of Ciriacese, employing two thousand workers and employees.
We shortly return to the starting point of the route (Villa Remmert).