Saluzzo is mentioned for the first time in 1028, in a document in which it is quoted as a "castrum" belonging to the Marquis of Turin, Olderico Manfredi (10th  century) of the “Arduinici” family. However, some scholars, according to archaeological remains from Roman times, have suggested that Saluzzo was an area of ancient settlement, probably dating from the Iron Age. The hypothesis about the etymology of Saluzzo are conflicting, and so we have not  unequivocal solutions, although in some cases very similar. We show here the most credible hypothesis, the first of which asserts that Saluzzo derives from the word "Sales", with reference to the “Salii”, a Ligurian people, and “hutum” ("hut", “cabin”), for which  Saluzzo indicates “the Salii’s huts” or “Village of the Salii” (See G.. Gerbotto,  “Saluzzo e dintorni: guida storico-artistica e turistica”, Saluzzo, 1970 [G.. Gerbotto, "Saluzzo and Surroundings: Art History and Tourist Guide”, Saluzzo, 1970])..

For other scholars, however, the first part of the name "Sal-" refers to a term "sala", of Germanic origin, which is synonymous with "settlement", "village." Another hypothesis asserts that the name derives from  "Sallustius". For completeness, however, we note that, in Imperial Age, Saluzzo was also called "Ager Salutiensis", for which some scholars have thought of a related etymology to the Latin term "Salus" ("health"), with reference to a source of particularly healthy water that had to be located in the territory of Saluzzo; however , the first two scenarios have greater credit among scholars.

In Roman times, during the Imperial age, Saluzzo was also called “Ager Salutiensis”, belonging to the “IX Regio Augusta Taurinorum “ (Turin). With the dissolution of the Carolingian Empire, Saluzzo became Royal Court with King Berengar (850 approx. - 924), then passing, from the power of the “Arduinici”, a powerful family of Piedmontese origin, to the “Aleramici”, a family who had some feuds in  Monferrato, Acqui and Savona. On the death of Bonifacio del Vasto (1142), Saluzzo passed to his son Manfredi (1125-1175), who is considered the ancestor of the Marquis of Saluzzo. The Marquisate was not very strong and powerful, but his Lords knew how to manoeuvre, abling to rule for four centuries, also giving important artistic and cultural impulses for the city.

The Marquisate of Saluzzo reached its greatest power in the fifteenth century, under the governments of Ludovico I (1416-1475) and Ludovico II (1438-1504), when an economic expansion and increasing prosperity, guaranteed by a long period of internal and external peace, corresponded with the splendor of the arts and letters.

In 1511, the city obtained by Pope Julius II (1443-1513) the establishment of the Diocese. In the next century began the decline; overwhelmed by wars between the French and Imperial, the small State was finally annexed to the Duchy of Savoy  with the Treaty of Lyons, 1601. In the eighteenth century there was an economic recovery and the city expanded to the plain;  under the Kingdom of Sardinia was also the provincial capital.

Under Napoleonic rule (1796-1814), it was annexed to the French kingdom in the Department of “Stura”; formed the kingdom of Italy, finally, it  was named  district headquarter.