The old town is arranged amphitheatrically around the castle; the alleys of the medieval village are characteristic.
Of great historical and architectural interest is the parish baroque of Ss. Giacomo and Filippo, built by the Acaja, to which the bell tower more than 30 meters high rests. Inside you can admire numerous frescoes by Morgari.
Country also known as “Porta del Roero”, gently nestled on the side of the “sum bank” of the first hills overlooking the Cuneo plain, its territory is characterized by a part located on the plain and another located on a hill; despite the short distance, the environmental differences are significant. The Seysseld’Ax Castle and the parish church stand out already at a considerable distance from the town, together with the bell towers of its 11 churches. The high density of religious buildings in the urban concentric is partly due to the fact that in the seventeenth century there was a competition between the various brotherhoods and the bourgeois of the ancient four cantons into which the historic centre is divided, with the intention of building the largest church with the tallest bell tower.
HISTORY BITES
Sommariva del Bosco appears for the first time in documents in 1059. At the beginning of the 14th century Sommariva Bosco belongs to the Acaja family, later sold to the Roero family; although, given its strategic importance, it entered the aims of the Savoy Royals who besieged the town in 1470. After two years the castle was conquered and the Roero hunted, so the fiefdom was entrusted to Claudio di Savoia who was besieged and subsequently defeated, given his negative response to the request for the handover of the castle. In 1487 the castle and fiefdom were handed over to Count Teodoro Roero.
During 1690 Sommariva was sacked by the French of Catinat even if the following year it returned to the hands of the crown; until in 1733 it was ceded to the Marquis of Seyssel, still owners of the castle and the park in front of it.
WHAT TO SEE
Castle (private). Imposing set of buildings in part of the fifteenth century, with an older octagonal tower. It was of great importance throughout the 15th and 16th centuries as a Savoyard outpost.
Municipal building. The municipal building, structure originally belonging to the castle, consists of two parts built in different periods. The oldest wing, on the side facing south (Boglione climb), is from the seventeenth century, while the nineteenth century wing houses the council chamber. Inside is kept the banner of the city, dating back to the fifteenth century, witness of the oaths that the bourgeoisies recited at the gates of the castle promising loyalty to one gentleman after another.
Old walls. They are what remains of the imposing medieval fortifications: visible in some points of the inhabited area, at the foot of the current castle park, in the courtyard of the present Town Hall, going up the cobbled climb Soffietti.
Parish church of SS. Giacomo and Filippo. Built in a dominant position, the first information concerning it dates back to 1370. The current building has typically baroque forms and contains paintings by the twentieth-century painter Luigi Morgari.
Sanctuary of S. Giovanni and of the Beata Vergine.
The sanctuary is located in the flat part of Sommariva and recalls a miracle that occurred on May 6, 1685. According to legend, a blind man who, on a quiet Sunday in May 1685, at about four in the afternoon, stopped to pray in front at the effigy, he regained his sight. It was May 6th, an anniversary which has since become the traditional “Sommariva festival”. Following the miracle and other extraordinary events, the community decided to build the sanctuary which, based on the project of Michelangelo Garove. Inside it houses the fresco “Madonna and Child” dating from the last quarter of the fourteenth century, still visible today incorporated within the apse, and two large paintings by Pietro Paolo Operti.
Church of San Sebastiano. It is one of the smallest but also one of the most interesting among the churches of Sommariva. In fact, it can boast a purity and stylistic coherence, according to the canons of a consolidated baroque, difficult to find if not in buildings of primary importance. Perhaps for this reason it is attributed (but no documentation confirms it) to the famous Monregalese architect Francesco Gallo.
Fairy Tale Path. Since 2006 the historic centre of Sommariva has been involved in an urban redevelopment project, known as the “Fairy Tale Path”. Along the route of the monumental visit, which touches the most characteristic points of the inhabited area, depictions of the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty in the Wood of Charles Perrault have been installed.
Sanctuary of S. Giovanni and of the Beata Vergine.
The sanctuary is located in the flat part of Sommariva and recalls a miracle that occurred on May 6, 1685. According to legend, a blind man who, on a quiet Sunday in May 1685, at about four in the afternoon, stopped to pray in front of him at the effigy, he regained his sight. It was May 6th, an anniversary which has since become the traditional “Sommariva festival”. Following the miracle and other extraordinary events, the community decided to build the sanctuary which, based on the project of Michelangelo Garove. Inside it houses the fresco “Madonna and Child” dating from the last quarter of the fourteenth century, still visible today incorporated within the apse, and two large paintings by Pietro Paolo Operti.
Church of San Sebastiano. It is one of the smallest but also one of the most interesting among the churches of Sommariva. In fact, it can boast a purity and stylistic coherence, according to the canons of a consolidated baroque, difficult to find if not in buildings of primary importance. Perhaps for this reason it is attributed (but no documentation confirms it) to the famous Monregalese architect Francesco Gallo.
Fairy Tale Path. Since 2006 the historic centre of Sommariva has been involved in an urban redevelopment project, known as the “Fairy Tale Path”. Along the route of the monumental visit, which touches the most characteristic points of the inhabited area, depictions of the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty in the Wood of Charles Perrault have been installed.