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Italian Regions Region Piemonte Province Torino Comune Caravino

Caravino

Province of Torino, Piemonte (Piedmont-Piemont) Region, Italy

This small rural center is situated at the foot of a glacial hill around the parish church, and is dominated by the Castle of Masino, one of the most interesting fortresses of the Canavese plain.

INFO: -- Population: about 1,000 inhabitants -- Zip/postal code: 10010 -- Phone Area Code: 0125
Frazioni & Località: Masino

HISTORY: The name of Caravino first appears in documents of 1024 when Catelmo gave to the bishop of Aosta its lands situated in "Cadravinum". In the following century it was controlled by the bishop of Ivrea, and later passed to the county of Masino. Throughout the 13th century it was theater of the wars between Ivrea and Vercelli, and in 1387 the Masino counts had to recognize the supremacy of the Savoy. In the late 14th century the castle of Masino resisted the attack of Facino Cane²who had occupied Caravino, and who obtained the control of the area in the Battle of Caravino (1400).
In 1444 the counts of Masino sold their county to Giacomo I Valperga, who granted in 1480 the communal Statutes, signed by Antonio Gallitia and Antonio Alberti as representatives of Caravino. In the first half of the 16th century the place followed the destiny of the Savoy territories in Piedmont, and was invaded by the Spaniards and French until the 1559 treaty of Chateau Cambresis brought back peace for a time to Italy.
In 1626 the terrible plague (the same described in Manzoni's The Betrothed) decimated the town and whole families were wiped away. The 18th century saw also wars for the egemony on the area between France and Savoy, and between 1800 and 1814 under the Napoleonic rule Caravino was a Justice center (Department 109) for the area of the Dora Riparia.
In 1929 the communes of Caravino, Masino and Cossano were unified with the name of Comune of Masino, then in 1949 Caravino became a Comune and Masino its frazion

What to see:

The Valperga or Masino Castle at Masino, once a medieval mansion of the ancient piedmontese family, destroyed in a war in 1549 by the Savoy Dukes, and restored in later centuries: inside elegant halls, and a chapel preserving the urn with the ashes of Arduino of Ivrea, King of Italy in the 11th century.