Capriata D'Orba

The atmosphere of a town that has enchanted E. Olmi.
 

                                                                                                                                                   to List
 

The area of ​​the town of Capriata d'Orba comprises the former boundary line marked by the rivers that separated the land Aleramica from Obertenga; These lands, along with the Arduino, had been created after the election of King Berenger II in 950. Capriata d'Orba was able, thanks to this position from the jurisdiction not always well defined, to stand long-autonomously with its own statutes.
The XII century marks major events for the fate of the country after the government of the Marquis del Bosco, becomes free municipality; always prey of the tensions between Alexandria and Genoa, is alternately allied with one or the other city, until, finally occupied by Genoa in 1230, it remains below that domain for nearly a century. Then will return again to the Alexandrians and will remain there until 1412; Then, for ten years lord it again the representatives of the Ligurian republic. Despite the troubled years in this period  are born the legal requirements the "municipal statutes of Capriata" that will regulate the area of ​​the community life for a very long period.
As we read on the gravestone preserved in the Town Hall that comes from the ancient "Porta Genovese", the construction of the first fortified town walls of truss dating back 1272, but there remain only a few remnants of the lower part, built in the sixteenth and seventeenth century horizontal bands of pebbles and bricks.
Quadrilateral protection around the oldest part of the village, the route of the wall is now fragmented due to demolitions occurring during the seventeenth century by the people who used that material for other buildings. It remains to admire a cylindrical tower in the western section and a bastion pentagon shape in the eastern section.
The castle of "Castelvecchio" is, according to ancient records builded in 973 and was dismantled in 1227 for a peace agreement; It is not placed in precise given its reconstruction, but it is clear his rock feature from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century. Practically razed to the ground by the Spanish in 1645, with its material was built two centuries later the Hospital complex of SS. Joachim and Joseph. Visible are still a brick square tower (XII sec.) and a stretch of stone walls dating back apparently to the tenth century.
The parish church of SS. Peter and Paul, already mentioned in a 1204 document, but no date no aspect of its primitive Romanesque building except some fragments of tombstones. Today's beautiful place of veneration that rises on piazza Garibaldi date from the fifteenth and sixteenth century, but further changes and embellishments are of the eighteenth as the main altar and the bell tower.
It's absolutely necessary a detailed visit to the Parish to assimilate its architectural beauty and admire its interior. Also in Piazza Garibaldi stands the elegant Town Hall, erected in 1858 on the grounds of the "Forum", the place where there held once the cattle market.
At this point we recommend to keep the tourist-artistic tour with no hurry and have a pause for a moment in front of each building worthy of interest. Some overlook toward Via Mazzini, others toward Via San Antonio, but virtually every street and square of the town reserves pleasant surprises and  takes you to the past of this location.
We recall also the former SS. Joachim and Joseph, the Annunciation brotherhoods (St. Joseph) and SS. Trinity (St. Michael), the church of S. Rocco and the Oratory of St. Giovanni Battista, the former convent of Minori Osservanti, the Villeggiatura Spinola, the Masseria dell'Aureliana, the Villa Val Lemme and Tenuta Pedaggera.
Capriata invites you to memorable encounters for the most important religious festivals; among others: the Living Nativity, Christmas Eve (whose poignant atmosphere has also moved the director Ermanno Olmi who has set an episode of his film on the life of Don Orione) and the patronal feast of St. Peter, 29 June, for which in the procession partecipate brotherhoods from all over Liguria and parade with their traditional "Cristi".
The Capriata's Carnival is an opportunity for relaxation and fun and we also remember the Labor Day which takes place in August and that includes food festivals and dances.
For sports enthusiasts, Capriata provides bowling, football, tennis and tambourine.
Local productions: large lawn extensions provide abundant crops of hay; cultivation of vineyard provide excellent wines such as Gavi, Cortese of Alto Monferrato, Barbera and Dolcetto d'Ovada. The entire production is marked with the brand D.O.C.

Panorama.

Piazza della chiesa.