What is Casale Monferrato known for?

Historic capital of the Marchesato del Monferrato from the fifteenth century, passed from Paleologi to Gonzaga in 1559. 1595 synagogue with one of the most important Baroque interiors of Jewish Piedmont, restored and partly preserved as a museum. Curved butter biscuit invented in Casale in 1878 by Domenico Rossi, shaped like the moustache of Vittorio Emanuele II.

Where is Casale Monferrato?

Casale Monferrato is a comune in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont region of Italy, about 47 kilometers from Novara.

Piedmont · Alessandria

Casale Monferrato

The historic capital of the Marchesato del Monferratoon the Po, where the Paleologi castle and the Baroque synagogue still stand.

47 km / 29 mi

Nearest hub (Novara)

32,204

Population

Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Città del Vino

Why come

Casale Monferrato sitson the right bank of the Po, sixty kilometers east of Torino, at the foot of the Monferrato hills. Casale fell to the Marquess of Montferrat in 1292 and rose as capital of the Marchesato in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, on the strategic edge of the Po Valley. The Duomo di Sant'Evasio is its oldest stone: consecrated on January 7, 1107 by Pope Paschal II on the site of a Roman temple to Jupiter and a Liutprandian-era church to Saint Lawrence, the basilica is one of the most important Romanesque-Lombard cathedrals in Piedmont, with five naves and a matroneum of trifore and quadrifore galleries. The Castello dei Paleologi, raised in 1352 by Giovanni II Paleologo, runs an asymmetric hexagonal plan with circular corner towers and a dry moat. The Sinagoga, completed in 1595 in the old Jewish quarter, holds a gilded Piedmontese Baroque interior and a museum of Jewish history. The town is also the historic capital of Italian cement and Krumiri biscuits.

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Gallery

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Known for

Duomo di Sant'Evasio
Romanesque-Lombard cathedral consecrated 1107 by Pope Paschal II, with five naves, barrel and cross vaults, and a matroneum of trifore galleries.
Castello dei Paleologi
1352 castle by Giovanni II Paleologo, asymmetric hexagonal plan with circular corner towers and a dry moat, now used for exhibitions.
Sinagoga di Casale Monferrato
1595 synagogue in the old Jewish quarter, gilded Piedmontese Baroque interior, restored 1968 with a Jewish history museum on the upper floor.
Palazzo Treville
Eighteenth-century Rococo palazzo with one of the most elaborate stuccoed interiors in northern Italy, on Via Cavour.
Piazza Mazzini
Central square with the bronze equestrian statue of Carlo Alberto by Abbondio Sangiorgio, marking the heart of the historic town.
Lungo Po Gramsci
Riverside promenade along the Po at the foot of the town, with views across to the Monferrato hills.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the months Casale opens up. The Po valley clears of winter fog, the Monferrato vineyards leaf or harvest, and the Duomo's matroneum holds light it does not get in winter. July and August are hot and still on the river plain; the Paleologi castle's underground passages and the synagogue's gilded hall hold cool, but most days the town empties between two and five. November through March is closed-feeling. Fog rises off the Po, many palazzi shut their courtyards, and the cement-works skyline can pull harder than the historic centre. The shoulder months are when locals get the city back.