Visit Alba
Your visit to Alba can begin with the Church of San Giovanni in the 'Elvio Pertinax Square', which holds the 'Madonna delle Grazie', by Barnaba da Modena (active 1361-1383), signed and dated 1377; the 'Adoration of the Child with Madonna and Saints Joseph Nicholas of Tolentino, Augustine, and Jerome”, by Macrino da Alba, a local painter (1465 approx.-1520)). In the choir there is the icon by Giovanni Antonio Molineri (1575-1642), depicting the “Baptism of Jesus”; and in the third chapel on the right is the painting of the “Madonna del Carmine”, by Guglielmo Caccia, called “Moncalvo” (1568-1625).
On the square there are two houses-towers of the 15th century, which still retain the structure of late Medieval age.
From the “Via Cavour”, which has one of the most beautiful architectural structures of the entire Old Town, we can reach the “Piazza del Duomo” and “Piazza Risorgimento”. This is overlooked by the Cathedral of “San Lorenzo”, of Gothic-Romanesque style (XI century), which has three portals on the façade, redesigned in the nineteenth century, while the massive bell tower is from the 13th century; inside, there is a fine wooden choir created by Bernardino Fossati in 1512. Not far from the cathedral there is the church of San Domenico, a building dating from the 13th century with a Romanesque-Gothic façade, which opens on a beautiful splayed portal. After St. Dominic Church, continuing along the “Via Calissano”, we find the Social Theatre, built in 1855 in Neoclassical style.
From the “Piazza del Duomo” we can follow the ancient Via Maestra (the present "Via Vittorio Emanuele”), a true backbone of the social, cultural and economic life of the city. Ar the intersection of the “Via Calissano” is the "Do House”, built in the fifteenth century and decorated with terracotta friezes. Alba is especially a city of towers and, in Piazza del Duomo, it is possible to visit the highest and best preserved of these, which are the “Sineo”, “Bonino” and “Artesiano” towers.
The church of St. John the Baptist has a Baroque style, in which are kept a painting of a late-fourteenth century, by Barnaba da Modena (active 1361-1383) and a "Nativity" by Macrino da Alba, a painter who clearly followed the stylistic influences of the Italian Central Art. The civil architecture presents the medieval "Loggia dei Mercanti”, with the “Fontana House” and “Diretti House”; the first shows a beautiful Renaissance frieze, while the second has an elegant decoration with some small archs.
In the City Hall, Council Chamber keeps the “Crowned Virgin” by Macrino da Alba (1501); the “Piccolo Concerto” by Mattia Preti (1613-1699), which reflects the style of Caravaggio (1571-1610); a sixteenth-century altarpiece and a work of Pinot Gallizio (1902-1964), leading exponent of the European avant-gardes between the 1950s and 1960s and the inventor of the so-called "industrial painting”.
Other monuments to visit are the Palace of the Counts of Serralunga, the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damian (eighteenth century), the baroque Church of Mary Magdalene, and especially the Public Library and the Civic Museum of Archaeology and Natural Sciences, "Federico Eusebio", which keeps some Roman and prehistoric archaeological collections relating to the area and natural ethnography sections. Walk also to the “Piazza Savona”, with its fresh arcades and a place with a tree-lined promenade with a fountain, built in the late fifties. The majestic Church of St. Paul, in the square, features a bronze portal, dedicated to the saint.
Alba cuisine and wines
Lovers of fine cuisine connect the truffle with the name of Alba, and the product is indeed very present in Alba and its environs. In October, in fact, Alba holds the traditional "Truffle Fair of Alba" - here you can find dishes made with truffles which go with noodles, ravioli, raw meat and fried eggs. The local cheese is the characteristic "Robiola of Alba”, delicate and tasty. Other dishes to be sure to taste are the so-called "bagna calda", a sauce of anchovies, garlic, olive oil and butter, accompanied by raw vegetables in season; also very pleasing the “polenta” with venison and snails cooked in various ways, example, tomato, mushrooms, stew, leek, or as spaghetti sauce. Among the sweets, we mention the "Bunet”, and a chocolate pudding called “Gianduja” with crushed amaretto and hazelnut cake. Among the wines we can taste the "Dolcetto d'Alba”, “Barbera d'Alba”, “Nebbiolo” and, finally, the "Freisa”.
See also history of Alba