Albugnano counts over 530 inhabitants and is 34 km away from Turin. The town was fortified by the Marquises of Monferrato, but of its walls – destroyed by the French – no traces remain. The history of the municipality was closely intertwined with that of the Canonica of Vezzolano, which boasted rights over the territory, progressively ceded to various feudal lords. Passed to the Savoy from the 17th century, the village became a fiefdom of the canons until 1800, the year in which the religious institutions were suppressed by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Places of Interest
The Canonica di Vezzolano, a religious complex in Romanesque style with Gothic elements, is one of the most important medieval monuments in Piedmont. Commonly known as th Abbazia di Vezzolano, although – at least in the latter part of its history – it was a canonry, where secular clergy – not monks-lived in common. It was built between the 12th and 13th centuries and subsequently renovated. The facade has three different orders of columns: the first two surmounted by architraves, the last by arches. In the lunette of the portal, a sculpture represents the Madonna enthroned between an angel and a devotee, while in correspondence with the mullioned window in the second order of columns, you can admire the Redeemer flanked by two angels. The sculptural decoration contains authentic masterpieces, such as the figures of the Annunciation on both sides of the central window in the apse. The most interesting sculptural element is the large jubé, a screen decorated with high-relief sculptures, which separated the area reserved for the clergy from the one where the lay faithful gathered within the central nave. In the pictorial decoration of the cloister, the Madonna enthroned with the Child, the Adoration of the Magi, and the Contrast between three living and three dead are particularly interesting.
The opening and welcoming services for visitors to the Canonica di Vezzolano are provided by the volunteers of the Rete Romanica di Collina (InCollina Association).
The Church of St. Giacomo Maggiore (15th century), which houses paintings by Guglielmo Caccia, also known as il Moncalvo, and an altarpiece by the Solari family. In the cemetery, you can find the ancient Romanesque church of St. Pietro.