Castelnuovo Don Bosco: sights, history and trails

The village rises at the north-western end of the province of Asti in the historical territory ofAstesana, on a slightly elevated hill, near the confluence of the Nevissano and Bardella rivers. The town was called Castelnuovo d'Asti before he was given the surname of the most illustrious citizen. The origin of the name is to be connected to the presence of a castle around which stands a village, from the back to the year 1000. Around the village there are rural villages of particular interest: Bardella, Cascine Grosse, Morialdo, Il Bricco, Nevissano, Mistrassi and Vironi, Mondonio, Cascine Garesio, Ranello and the area of Madonna della Neve.

For half he belonged to the lords of Riva and for the other to the counts of Biandrate, to be given in sovereignty by the emperor to the Marquises of Monferrato.

First submissive to the municipality of Asti, it was then made fief in 1288 to the lords of Rivalba and the lords of Piea, until, after being controlled for a certain time by the marquises of Monferrato, it definitively returned to be part of the Country of Astese in the second half of the fourteenth century. The important location was inserted by Gian Galeazzo Visconti in the Capitanato d'Astesana, territorial grouping made up of fourteen countries of great strategic importance, not unfeoffable but directly subjected to the authority of the Governor of Asti.^[5] In 1618 Carlo Emanuele I of Savoy, Count of Asti and Lord of the Astesana, for impelling financial needs established and put on sale the feudal titles of the localities of the Capitanate, giving them to the best bidders.

Castelnuovo d'Asti was granted in 1619 to Count Ernst von Mansfeld, until after his death he was given to his natural sister Matilde of Savoy, wife of Charles of Simiana. These preserved the lordship of the place until 1716, when Irene Simiana, the last heir of the family, married with Michele Imperiale, prince of Francavilla^[6]

Interesting is the report on the economic and administrative conditions of the country compiled by the Intendent of the Province of Asti Count Balduini di Santa Margherita in 1750. Castelnuovo counted at the time 360 families, corresponding to a population among 1 800 and the 2 000 inhabitants. Agricultural lands were considered of good quality, and if cereal crops were just enough to local needs, production and sale of wine was sufficiently integrated the income of farmers. The vineyards were well occupied at the time 1 800 Piedmontese days (692 acres) 4 500 (1 730 acres) constituting the municipal territory. Wine production was of 1 800 "carra"^[7] from ten brethren, equal to 9 000 Hectolitres. They were also produced 2 299 grain bags, equal to about 2 000 Fifth, and 1 158 maize grain bags, equal to about 1 000 Fifth. In that year they were working in Castelnuovo 497 cattle and goats 500 sheep, whose milk was intended for the production of rhinos. At the time two annual fairs were held, one the 26 March and the other on December 1st; very important was the weekly market, during which chickens and dairy products were traded in the area^[8].

In the years of World War II, between 1941 and 1943, 45 Jewish refugees were interned in Castelnuovo (including families with children), from the Balkans.^[9] After September 8, 1943, with the German occupation, the group (in the meantime reduced to 20 people due to the numerous transfers to Ferramonti or other locality of internment) promptly dispersed. In the end, all internees managed to save themselves (mostly finding refuge in Switzerland, others headed south to meet the Allied Army).^[10]

In the historic center of the capital and at the highest point of the town, stands the medieval tower with square structure, restructured in the fifteenth century (inserted in the circuit "Open Castles" of the Basso Piemonte) which, with some adjacent ruins, is what remains of the castle that once dominated the inhabited. Next to it stands a sanctuary dating back to the late eighteenth century, dedicated to the Madonna del Castello erected in Baroque form.

The parish church of Sant'Andrea is also located in the upper part of the village with a simple façade dating back to the 18th century. The interior is central and there is a painting by Guglielmo Caccia called "the Moncalvo".

Around the cult building there are some valuable buildings dating back to different eras, from the Middle Ages to Liberty: at this last period the Casa Filipello is adorned by a garden.

Going down to the lower part of the village there are other remarkable buildings such as the church of San Bartolomeo, in 18th century style, and the palace of Rivalba (the chapel is also part of the system "Castelli Aperti") located in a square entirely dominated.

In the vicinity of the village, along the road that leads to Berzano di San Pietro is the small church of Sant'Eusebio in Romanesque style: the façade was restored in the eighteenth century, while the rest of the building still has medieval characteristics, with some hanging arches remaining in the apse.

Also in Romanesque style there are three other buildings of worship placed in isolated places: the church of Santa Maria di Cornareto, in Nevissano, the rural church of San Michele Arcangelo in Bardella and that of Santa Maria di Rasetto in the hamlet Mondonio.
The first was in bad condition until the year 2000, when it underwent a radical restoration, eliminating the ruins of the classroom and the ruins of the bell tower already collapsed a century before, saving and consolidating the only Romanesque apse, with front closure as chapel.

The second is located on a panoramic hill on the path that connects Castelnuovo Don Bosco with the Abbey of Vezzolano. The third is still used: located on a hill near the town of Garesio, it appears quite integrated in the outside, less the eighteenth century facade inside which insists a portico built at the beginning of the twentieth century, with stone apse and brick structure.

In addition to the basilica of Don Bosco in the hamlet Colle Don Bosco, in the village was dedicated to the Saint, in 1898 a statue, work of sculptor Giovanni Antonio Stuardi^[13], located in the lower part of the main square.

In the territory of the municipality there is also the vine that gives rise to DOC wine productions, especially malvasia and freisa. Among the craft activities that have had a remarkable development we can count the working of the junch and the vimine, with which are manufactured furniture and other furnishing objects. In Bardella, about 2 km from the country, there are sulphurous sources. They are cold sources used for the care of the digestive and skin apparatus. In addition to Castelnuovo is the factory of ICP AVIATION.

Below is a table relating to the administrations that have succeeded one another in this municipality.

In the sports field Castelnuovo Don Bosco gave birth to Luigi Marchisio, champion of Giro d'Italia in 1930. As a recognition he was named the gym of Castelnuovo.