Piemont Tour 2019 / Alba 2x PiP

Our first impressions of Alba, a historical town with about 31.500 inhabitants on the edge of the Po Valley, the main town of the Langhe and seat of the diocese of Alba.

The settlement history of Alba goes back to the Neolithic 6th to 3rd millennium B.C. The Ligurians settled here and in 173 B.C. the Roman Empire took over the regime ,since 89 B.C. with the name Alba Pompeia known as the Roman town.
Conquered by the Longobards and Saracens in the Middle Ages ,in the 12th century it became a free city and joined the Lombard League of Northern Italian cities.

Constantly fought over between different family clans, the city fell to the Gonzaga, conquered three times by Charles Emanuel I and lost again, involved in the power conflict between France and Spain. In 1631 during the peace negotiations Alba fell to the Savoy.

During Napoleon's reign, the Republic of Alba was established here and in October and November 1944 the local resistance movement against the fascist dictatorship in Italy proclaimed the Republic of Alba again.