Gastronomy
Asparagus, King of the Table.
Among the Traditional Agri-food Products (PAT)
It has a Seal that certifies the traceability of the chain (ISO 22005)
Since 2004 it has been recognized by an Association, which defines a production disciplinary to follow in order to present its product as Asparagus Santena (21 associates to 2018).
With 170 tonnes of production per year
Product of excellence of Italian and Piedmontese agriculture is a position won with the work and constancy of farmers who, from generation to generation, have been able to select, produce, enhance, protect and promote the delicious tourism, King of the spring table. Asparagus owes its fame to its sweet and delicate taste and low fibrousness, the result of freshness and sandy soil in which it grows. The notoriety is increased by the wisdom with which they prepare the many dishes of course elaborated over the centuries, that today can be tasted in the restaurants and trattorias that expose the mark of quality.
The large companies
From the historic Lenti Spa, which has been producing quality cooked hams for over a century, to Caffè Vergnano, there are dozens of nationally and internationally renowned companies based in the City of Santena. Growing brands that give prestige to Made in Italy and pride to the territory.
The brand De.Co
There are over a dozen gastronomic products identified by the Town Denomination brand that guarantees the quality and safeguard the productive peculiarities of the City.
It includes: La Focaccia Dolce del Fornaio di Tetti Giro – alias Pollone Walter – of the bakery “Il Forno”. The Piemonteìsa of the butchery “Carne Dì”, which prefers raw materials of territorial origin. Can 100% Arabica from 250 grams grind Moka “House of coffee Vergnano”, born from the slow roasting of the finest varieties of Arabica. Swiss red meat and white meat of the “Crivello Butchery”, which prefers raw materials of local origin. Pure saffron in the stammi of the farm “Rocca Roberto”, sold to private and restaurateurs santenesi and not. Pure saffron in the stigmata of the farm “Zafferano Fratelli Palazzolo”, sold to private and restaurateurs santenesi and not. Liquori Bicerin Originale di gianduiotto, Bicerin originale White, Bicerin originale Dark, Vermouth di Torino bianco Camillo and Vermouth di Torino rosso Camillo delle Nuove Distillerie Vincenzi srl. Spanotto Cavour, from the pizzeria “Lo Snack”
The Food District
The Metropolitan City bets on the Food District of Chieri and Carmagnola. Peperone e Salame di Giora di Carmagnola, Tinca gobba dorata del Pianalto di Poirino, Asparago di Santena, Ciliegie di Pecetto, Cipolla Piatlina bionda di Andezeno, Freisa di Chieri: these and many others are the agricultural and wine excellences of the 22 municipalities that are part of the homogeneous zone Chierese-Carmagnolese (one of 11 in which is divided the territory of the Metropolitan City of Turin) on which it is worth focusing in order to enhance agricultural and agri-food production and the landscape. The Food Districts are understood by the regional legislator as a tool to combine economic activities with culture, history, tradition and local tourist offer.
Main sights
The City of Camillo Cavour. Commemorating Camillo Benso di Cavour (1810-1861) is an easy task to accomplish. Since that tragic June 6, 1861, the city has been a pilgrimage destination for those who want to commemorate the figure and work of the greatest Italian statesman. Between the Memorial and the Parish Church there is the tomb, also visually reminding one of the pillars of the Weaver’s political action: that idea of “Free Church in Free State”so modern and disruptive that it deeply affects the history and culture of our country throughout the nineteenth century, the twentieth century, to the present day.
THE CAVOUR CASTLE Located in an environment of refined beauty, it captures and seduces the visitor, inserting it in a unique and original plot that tells the context in which Cavour lived, formed and operated the character capable of permanently placing Italy in the system of western democracies.
THE CAVOUR MEMORIAL The memorial built inside the Castle, which opens after four years of renovation, offers interactive paths that tell on three floors the life of Cavour and the history of the Italian Risorgimento. On the top floor the chamber where the statesman died. Outside the Castle the family tomb was restored where Cavour was buried and there is the mortuary tombstone of the Countess of Castiglione originally in Paris at the cemetery de la Père-Lachaise .
THE DIPLOMATIC ROOM The Diplomatic Room, also called the Council Room, was so called because it was used for the political meetings of Cavour with colleagues of the Ministry. It is located in a detached building connected to the Castle with a terrace. 20 meters long and 9 meters wide, it was commissioned in 1780/90 by the Marquises of Cavour who succeeded the Benso di Santena. The walls are decorated with bright stucco representing the arts and crafts, with trophies representative of the arts and sciences, such as tools for sculpture, the bagpipe for poetry, the palette for painting, symbolic motifs for geometry, astronomy, natural sciences, geography, theatre and music. Today the entrance is surmounted by the Benso coat of arms.
THE TOWER. It is the ancient remainder of the fifteenth-century Castellazzo of the Marquis Tana, purchased by Carlo Ottavio Benso in 1714. The Tower was restored in 1887-1889, under the direction of Melchior Pulciano: on the first floor is the Sala delle Corone, where the crowns that hundred Italian cities brought in 1886 for the 25th anniversary of the death of Cavour are preserved. In the room there is a large fireplace, added with the nineteenth-century restorations, which bears on the hood the painting of the coat of arms of the Benso and their motto “Gott will reicht”. The coat of arms is surmounted by the figure of a pilgrim carrying a banner with the inscription “Militia et Peregrinatio”. In the nearby room there are other crowns and memorabilia arrived over the years, such as the olive branch sent by Mussolini in 1929.
The Tomb. Declared a national monument in 1911, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Camillo Cavour stands on the left side of the church. Built in 1715 by Count Carlo Ottavio Benso, it contains the remains of Count Camillo Benso di Cavour and many of his family. Originally the tomb of the Benso family was in the church of San Francesco a Chieri and when the Napoleonic army destroyed the church, the Benso built a mortuary crypt under the chapel of the castle of Santena. The facade of the chapel is in Doric order, the internal walls are covered in marble and the altar is bronze.Located in an environment of refined beauty, captures and seduces the visitor, inserting it in a unique and original plot that tells the context in which Cavour lived, formed and operated the character capable of permanently placing Italy in the system of western democracies.
The Park. Next to the castle lies a large park of 23 hectares wanted by the Marquis Michele Benso di Cavour at the beginning of the nineteenth century and designed by Xavier Kurten. It is a typical English garden, with hillocks and curved paths, useful to provide at each step a different perspective view of the park. The park, bordered to the south by the banks of the Banna stream, is rich in centuries-old native plants, including beech, elm, oak, fir and plane trees of important height (up to 35 m).
TWINNING: Santena and Plombières Les Bains
In May 2018 was signed the long-awaited twinning between the City of Santena and the French city Plombières-les-Bains the two municipalities, Italian and French, united by the life of the great statesman Piedmont. A journey started by the Santenese administration almost twenty years ago and that was finally completed with the naming of the square at the intersection of Via Cavour, Via Tana and Via Torino. The ceremony was held in the diplomatic hall of the Cavourian complex, in the presence of the entire city council of Santenese, the French delegation and many citizens and associations Santenesi. Also present was a Spanish delegation of entrepreneurs from Burguillos del Cerro, the region Sur Extremadura typical area of wild asparagus.
