Costigliole d'Asti: sights, history and trails

The manor of Costigliole included (and partly still includes) some castles and places of historical interest:

• The Castello di Costigliole d'Asti.
• The Castle of Burio, located in Burio, a few kilometers from Costigliole in a southerly direction.
• The Motta or Mota Tanagri, north of Costigliole, on the road to San Damiano d'Asti. In this location, still present, there was an ancient castle (now disappeared). In 1387 La Motta became a fiefdom of the Lajolo family, then passed to the Ottina family, who sold it to the Asinari in 1435.
• Bionzo (Villa Blonearum), on the road towards Calosso. The area was the scene of destruction by the Milanese in 1230. Of the ancient vestiges, only the parish church of San Siro remains.
• Cavorro (Caburro); of the locality there are only a few remains. On the hill, now called San Martino in memory of the church of San Martino de Caburro, cited in 15th century chronicles as one of the four parishes of Costigliole. In memory of this, once the houses in the southern area of Costigliole were part of the Cavorro village, which later became Villavecchia, and the door towards the Tanaro was said Port Cavorro.
• Lù (Monte Leucio), poggio tra Agliano Terme And Montegrosso d'Asti. The castle, totally destroyed in the 16th century, was owned by the Asinari di San Marzano. In the diploma of Henry III of 1041 it is already present as Mons Leduci.

Loreto (Laureti) is a town located between Costigliole and the Tinella stream, southward. The place, full of history, has always been the center of legendary tales, witnessing its ancient origins.

According to Quintino Sella, Loreto belonged in 967 to the Brand Aleramica. After Aleramo's death his fiefs passed to the descendants and the fief of Loreto, probably derived from a wild of lauri, finally touched the famous Marquise Bonifacio del Vasto, pronipote of Aleramo, who left him to his son Oddone. Having left these without children, the Loreto committee was divided among the grandchildren, including Manfredi Lance, cadet son of the founder of the marquises of Busca. Manfredi had earned the nickname "Lancia" while serving as a spearman for Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.

In 1231, during a visit to northern Italy, Frederick II fell in love with Bianca Lancia and Manfredi was born from this union, also remembered by Dante in the Divine Comedy

The disputes lasted until 1255, when, at the death of Frederick II, the Astigians recovered the castle and destroyed it entirely, transporting its inhabitants to the nearby town of Costigliole. Loreto is now a small hamlet composed of about forty rural houses, distributed around the church dedicated to Madonna Laurethane. The destruction left no trace, except two small slabs of light blue marble preserved in the church on which a Roman cross and a Benedictine monk are carved.

The coat of arms and gonfalone were granted with DPR n. 592 of 10 February 1977.^[4]

Coat of arms

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Inhabitants registered^[8]

The Brotherhood of St. John or the Mercy of Costigliole participated and won, with an expense of 700 lire, to the race of Palio di Asti 1785. The won sendallo is still preserved in the parish church; with the fabric of the palio a piviale, a planet and a tunicella in red velvet. In modern times, Costigliole took part in all the editions of the Palio of the Fascist era, except that of 1930. Subsequently, he participated in all editions from 1967 to 1984.^[9]

Costigliole boasts one of the most active Italian non-profit associations in the food and wine sector, which is named ICIF, whose aim is to promote the culture of quality Italian agri-food products abroad and spread them globally. The association is known all over the world and especially in China^{[without source]}. It is based in the castle of Costigliole. The city is also renowned for its wines.

From the Barbera vine, three red wines are obtained:

• Piemonte Barbera doc, red color.Minimum radiation: grades 11
• Barbera d'Asti DOCG, of ruby red colour, tending to garnet, dry, of full-bodied taste. Minimum gradient: grade 12
• Barbera del Monferrato doc, of ruby red colour, dry, lively or sparkling. Minimum gradient: grades 11.5

They are also produced:

• Monferrato Dolcetto doc, of ruby red color. Minimum gradient: grade 11
• Grignolino d'Asti doc, coloured ruby red. Minimum gradient: grade 11
• Freisa d'Asti doc, of garnet red color. Minimum gradient: grades 10,5
• Piemonte Brachetto, of ruby red colour, sweet, lively. Minimum gradient: grade 11

• Piemonte Cortese, straw yellow color, dry. Minimum gradient: grades 10
• Piemonte Chardonnay, straw yellow, dry. Minimum gradient: grades 10,5

From the Moscato vine are produced:

• Moscato d'Asti DOCG, straw-coloured, sweet, lively or sparkling. Overall rating: 11 degrees (alcohol 4.5 cfo)
• Asti DOCG sparkling wine, straw-coloured, sweet, lively or sparkling. Overall rating: 11 degrees (alcohol 7 cfo)
• Piemonte Passed Moscato, amber yellow color, sweet. Overall rating: grades 15.5 of which at least 11 were held.

White truffles, tunaed calf, raw meat salad beat to the knife, peppers in wet cedar (in hot sauce), roasts or stuffed, cured meats and cotechini, Piedmontese mixed fried fish, financiera, ravioli with the plin (pizzicotto), tajarin (tagliatelle), boiled meats with bagnet (green sauce), braised meats and roasts, bunet al chocolate (chocolate dessert), zabaglione with moscato, fruit cakes, tirà, turcet (torcetti).

Costigliole d'Asti is twinned with:

• Weinsberg, since 2000