What is Canelli known for?

Birthplace of Italian sparkling wine; Carlo Gancia produced the first bottle here in 1865 from Moscato Bianco on the Champagne model. Twenty kilometers of tuff-cut wine cellars under the town, descending to 32 meters; UNESCO World Heritage component since 2014. Hilltop castle on the Sternia, fifteenth-century fortress turned Scarampi residence in the 1600s, still privately occupied.

When is the best time to visit Canelli?

Apr–Oct. April through June and September into October are the months the Belbo hills work best. The vines leaf and harvest in those windows, the cellars stay 12 to 14 degrees year-round, and the climb up the Sternia to the castle is in shade most of the day. July and August get hot in the valley; the Cattedrali Sotterranee are the coolest space in town and double as a refuge between two and five in the afternoon. November through March is quiet. Many wineries hold tastings by appointment only, but the UNESCO cellars open for guided visits year-round, and winter mist along the Belbo gives the hilltop castle its sharpest line.

Canelli is a comune in the province of Asti, Piedmont region of Italy, about 84 kilometers from Torino.

How do I get to Canelli?

From Torino, Canelli is roughly 84 km by road.

Piedmont · Asti

Canelli

The Asti Spumante town in the Belbo valley, where 20 kilometers of underground tuff cellars hold millions of bottles at constant temperature.

Known for

ASTI SPUMANTE
Birthplace of Italian sparkling wine; Carlo Gancia produced the first bottle here in 1865 from Moscato Bianco on the Champagne model.
CATTEDRALI SOTTERRANEE
Twenty kilometers of tuff-cut wine cellars under the town, descending to 32 meters; UNESCO World Heritage component since 2014.
CASTELLO GANCIA
Hilltop castle on the Sternia, fifteenth-century fortress turned Scarampi residence in the 1600s, still privately occupied.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

The festa: Tommaso, 21 December

Why come

Canelli sits on the Belbo, in the south-east corner of the Asti hills where the Langhe and Monferrato meet. The town is the birthplace of Italian sparkling wine: Carlo Gancia produced the first Asti Spumante here in 1865, on the model of Champagne. Underneath the centro storico runs a network of cellars cut into the tuff by pickaxe and chisel from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, descending as deep as 32 meters and extending about 20 kilometers through the hill below town.

They are called the Cattedrali Sotterranee, and they were inscribed in the UNESCO Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont in 2014. Above ground, the Sternia, a steep stone street, climbs from the Borgo Villanuova past the Torre dei Contini to the Castello Gancia, a medieval fortress transformed into a noble residence by the Scarampi in the early 1600s and still occupied by the Gancia family. The Belbo grows Moscato Bianco, Barbera and hazelnut.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Canelli’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

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What to see

Cattedrali Sotterranee
Network of tuff-cut cellars under the centro storico, 20 km of tunnels descending to 32 meters, part of the UNESCO Vineyard Landscape since 2014.
Castello Gancia
Medieval castle on the Sternia hill above town, transformed into a Scarampi residence in the 1600s and now home of the Gancia family.
La Sternia
Historic stone-paved street climbing through Borgo Villanuova to the castle, the original access road to the hilltop fortress.
Torre dei Contini
Viewpoint tower at 371 meters on the Sternia route, with a panorama over the Belbo valley and the south Langhe.
Chiesa di San Tommaso
Medieval church rebuilt in the seventeenth century with a richly decorated Baroque façade and frescoes of Saint Thomas and the Assumption.

The slow-trip planner

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Living here

Population 10,021
In-betweeni
Pharmacy in town
High school within a 30-minute drive
Train station in the comune
Nearest airport Genoa, 1 h 28 min drive
Regional capital Torino, 1 h 22 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

Elevation: 157 m
Population: 10,021
Surface area: 23.43 km²

On the map

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These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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