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Regions in Italy Region Piemonte > Province Torino > Comune Pont Canavese

Pont Canavese

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

The Locality: The center is situated where the Soana stream flows into the Orco river, a tributary of the Po, at the entrance of the Valle Soana, a typically French-provencal area, that forms to the North west the Fazzo walloon, leading to the Campiglia and Piamprato Valley.

The name of the place comes from the "ad duos pontes", though it seems however that in the early Middle Ages the name was Rordilitegna, but since to enter the town it was necessary to cross two bridges, the name was changed into "Ad Duos Pontes", from a Latin inscription found in the place. The rivers were important for the development of crafts connected to the abundance of waters, especially textile and leather. With the industrial development, the water of the streams was used for the production of elecric energy.

INFO: Altitude: 451 m a.s.l -- Population: about 3800 inhabitants -- Zip/postal code: 10085 -- Phone Area Code: 0124
Patron Saint: San Costanzo

HISTORY: The legend says that in the place there were three castles, one (called castra Ferrandae) of the Valperga family and two (called Castra Pontis and Tellarium) of the San Martino family, and the two families were always fighting each other from the towers called Castra Pontis and Ferrandae, which were divided by a very narrow passage.
The conflict ended only with the virtual destruction of bth castles, with only some remains of the towers. Most probably however the final destruction of the castles took place in 1552 by the army of marshal De Brissac.

WHAT TO SEE:
The parish church of San Costanzo, of the 17th century
The two towers called Ferranda, 32 m high, and Tellaria, the only remains of the medieval fortresses that existed at Pont.
The many bridges on the Orco and Soana, one of them a hanging bridge.