Atlas of Monferrato

Mornese: sights, history and trails

Alessandria

Elevation: 380 m above sea level
Area: 13.22 km²
Demonym: mornesinas
Patron saint: San Nicola from Tolentino

A closer look

Discovering Mornese

Mornese (♪ in Piedmontese, Morné in Liguria, Mornáize [murˈnaizɛ] in mornesino dialect) is an Italian municipality of 651 inhabitants^[1] from the Province of Alessandria, in Piemonte, in the extreme hillsides of Alto Monferrato, near the Ligurian Apennines. It is one of the municipalities of Ovadese, historical and cultural area of Basso Piemonte and the Monferrato, which takes its name from the city of Ovada. Part of the municipal territory is part of the Capanne di Marcarolo Regional Park.

Landscape and area

The village is situated between the Val Lemme and the Gorzente valley on the last slopes of the Ligurian Apennines .Explore this chapter

The village is located between the Val Lemme and the Gorzente valley on the last slopes of the Ligurian Apennines.

History of Mornese

SymbolsExplore this chapter

Appointed for the first time in a document of 1188, like Molonesio, it was a fief of the Reds of the Volta, the Genoese family who built a castle in 1270. He then passed under the dominion of the Marchesi del Monferrato that gave it in fief to the Doria, which held it from 1330 to 1574, when with Ugo Doria he extinct the main branch of the house. However, the cadet branch regained trade mark over the following centuries on the territory.

Symbols

The coat of arms of the municipality of Mornese, granted together with the gonfalone with D.P.R of 24 November 1983^[4], brings together the symbols that represent the history of the country. The color blue indicates devotion, loyalty and love for one's country. Two shields reproduce one the ancient emblem of the Cistercian monks (golden and blue banded with red), to whom, according to tradition, Mornese owes its foundation; the other is the shield of Monferrato (with the head of red), to which the country belonged politically. In the center the gold trifoliate cross and the silver star are an allegory to remember Saint Maria Mazzarello. The star seems to project a ray that illuminates a castle, symbol of Mornese and a reminder of the ancient castrum feudal.^[5]^[6] The gonfalone is a white drape.

What to see in Mornese

The main sights of Moravian interest are: the parish church, begun in 1590, initially dedicated to St. Nicholas from Tolentino and later to Saint Silvestro...Explore this chapter

The main places of interest in mornese are: the parish church, begun in 1590, initially dedicated to St. Nicholas of Tolentino and later to Saint Silvestro (in the basement of the church there is a permanent crib); the Doria Castle, dating back to the fourteenth century and the Church of San Rocco (XVI century).

The village is strongly linked to the places of St. Mary Sunday Mazzarello, founder with Saint John Bosco of the Daughters of Mary Helper, who was born here in the homonymous hamlet. Among others:

the native house;
the farmhouse Valponasca, where the Holy lived childhood and adolescence, today renovated in order to preserve the original aspect and used as a place of reflection and prayer;
the college, home of the Daughters of Mary Helper, built in 1846, by the same mornesines;
the imposing temple, wanted by the same Daughters of Mary and built with the help of the former pupils of 57 nations, consecrated in 1972, on the occasion of the centenary of the foundation of the institute.
The Doria Castle, dating back to the 14th century

Mornese, also immersed in the woods of Val Lemme dell'Alto Ovadese, offers a characteristic series of ancient paths and mule tracks surrounded by nature (now pleasantly walkable or mountain-bike) between forests, pine forests and rii.

Society

Demographic evolutionExplore this chapter

Demographic evolution

Inhabitants registered^[7]

Culture

EventsExplore this chapter

Events

On September 10, every year St. Nicholas of Tolentino, patron saint of Mornese. The following day, September 11th, is the day of the Traditional St. Nicholas Fair with numerous stalls in the streets of the country.

Administration

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

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

Period		First citizen	Match	Load	Notes
June 12, 1985	1 June 1990	Dino Angelini	Italian Communist Party	Mayor	^[8]
1 June 1990	December 4, 1992	Marco Giuseppe Pestarino	Christian Democracy	Mayor	^[8]
January 29, 1993	April 24, 1995	Giuseppe Giacomo Pestarino	Christian Democracy	Mayor	^[8]
April 24, 1995	June 14, 1999	Dino Angelini	left	Mayor	^[8]
June 14, 1999	June 14, 2004	Dino Angelini	civic list	Mayor	^[8]
June 14, 2004	June 8, 2009	Marco Giovanni Mazzarello	civic list	Mayor	^[8]
June 8, 2009	May 26, 2014	Marco Giovanni Mazzarello	Lista civica Mornese vivo	Mayor	^[8]
May 26, 2014	May 27, 2019	Simone Pestarino	Civic list Together 2014	Mayor	^[8]
May 27, 2019	June 9, 2024	Simone Pestarino	Mornese city list together 2019	Mayor	^[8]
June 9, 2024	in office	Simone Pestarino	Mornese civic list together	Mayor	^[8]