Guglielmo Caccia, called Moncalvo, was the most important painter of the seventeenth-century in Piedmont. He was greatly influenced by the artists of the XVI century. Moncalvo lived in Chieri from 1600 to 1610 where he produced some altar pieces and two wall paintings while at the same time he was Leggi tutto…
In the eighteenth century, the Chieri economy, inherently connected to textiles, survived, even by ignoring the new technology that, starting in England, spread throughout Europe. The building industry and town planning however were very active enterprises and had new clients: there were fewer initiative from the Royal Court but the Leggi tutto…
Towards the end of the century, there was social unrest, influenced by the French revolution. On the 23rd July 1797, the “bread uprising”, which had spread to all of Piedmont, involved also Chieri. The repression by those in power culminated in the shooting of 36 people in Piazza d’Armi (Piazza Leggi tutto…
For the entire eighteenth century Chieri was a large building site where some of the most important architects of the century worked. In 1726 Giovanni Antonio Sevalle worked on the female orphanage. In 1730 Filippo Juvarra worked on the churches of Sant’Andrea (no longer standing) and Sant’ Antonio Abate, later Leggi tutto…
The Napoleonic occupation in Piedmont brings many changes to the administration including the abolition of convents which were bought and sold by the government. They became hospitals and barracks and some of the churches were demolished (Sant’Agostino, San Francesco and Sant’Andrea). In the monastery of Santa Clara the textile factory Leggi tutto…
In the nineteenth century the aristocracy was in decline and sold their properties to the entrepreneurial bourgeoisie. The presence of numerous workers in local factories favoured the birth of the “Societies of Mutual Aid” ( Società di Mutuo Soccorso). In 1861 the Kingdom of Italy was born. The “Technical Institute“ Leggi tutto…
19th century Chieri cultural heritage is almost all housed between the walls of the Cathedral (the Duomo). The stations of the cross by Rocco Comaneddi date back to 1810 and the painting of “The Invention of the Sacred Cross” by Giovanni Vacca, to 1815. The general restoration of the Cathedral Leggi tutto…
On the 16th of September 1888, the original fund for what would become the Nicolò and Paola Francone Public Library of Chieri, was constituted. Within the ambit of the Society for Welfare and Instruction, a mutual aid society founded that same year with the aim of providing social assistance and Leggi tutto…
At the beginning of the twentieth century the inhabitants of Chieri numbered 13,803. This would increase to 15,000 people by 1950. From the beginning of the 1960’s the mass migration of people from the south to the industrialized towns in the North saw the population double (30,511 in 1971). Most Leggi tutto…
Chieri has also known two world wars, fascism and the Resistance. In spite of these events, it seems to have survived in a “situation of superficial tranquility”. Some textile factories were significantly extended at the beginning of the century: Gallina, (in the first years of the century); Caselli, (between 1934 Leggi tutto…