La Morra, Cuneo, Langhe, Piedmont, Italy, Europe
La Morra is an Italian town of 2,758 inhabitants in the province of Cuneo, in Piedmont. At the dawn of the second millennium the city of Alba Pompeia began to plow the surrounding hills, it was then that was born the village of Murra on the hilltop (Murra means fence for sheep). In 1340 he came under the rule of the family Falletti; in 1402 it gave its statutes in which they are mentioned for the first time in the area the grape Nebbiolo (Nebiolium), from which derives the Barolo wine, and Pignolo (Pignolium), has disappeared from the territory of La Morra. In 1435 he handed over to the Duke of Milan. After various events in France and Spain, in 1631 he passed to the Savoy. The bell tower (1710), built with the remains of the castle demolished in 1544, is just a few steps from the bronze monument to the grower of Italy (Antonio Munciguerra, 1972) and the marble bust of Giuseppe Gabetti, nineteenth-century composer of the Royal March, the first hymn of Italy, in Piazza Castello, sculpted by Giuseppe Realini. The square is closed on one side of the building of the Elementary Schools (1914). Not far away you find the Cantina Comunale, built in 1973 by the winemakers of La Morra and made on the premises of the eighteenth-century Palazzo dei Marchesi di Barolo. A few steps away stands the parish church of San Martino (Michelangelo Garove, 1699: inside, a remarkable is the altarpiece depicting the Madonna and Child with Saints Martin and Crispin (Giovanni Carlo Aliberti, 1715). To close the square with horse chestnut they think the church of the Confraternity of San Rocco (1749; altarpiece by an anonymous painter of Mondovi and frescoed dome by Pietro Paolo Operti) and the Town Hall (facade of 1765). In the middle of Via Umberto stands the Church of the Brotherhood of St. Sebastian (1700) with the airy brick bell tower (1766) in the building of the former Hospital via Hospital (1829) and home Boffa (XV century), in Via XX Settembre the palace Falletti-Cordero ; on the south side of the village there are the ramparts, medieval city walls. Nearby, the small church of Santa Brigida with frescoes in the apse of the XV century. At the end of Via Richieri stands the chapel dedicated to Saint Lucia with shovel nineteenth century. In the hamlet Annunziata you can visit the Romanesque-baroque complex of the former Benedictine monastery of St. Martin of Marcenasco, now Church of the Annunciation: cellar and apse of the XV century; facade of Michelangelo Garove of 1684; interior painted in different periods and with Roman. In the cellars of the former convent is the Museum Ratti Wines of Alba. The population of Santa Maria is the nineteenth-century parish church of Santa Maria in Plaustra. Today La Morra has become a very rich country thanks to the great value taken by gold red, Barolo wine, of which the country bases its economy. In recent decades, tourism in La Morra has increased a lot, turning the country in all respects. Tourists from all over the world will come to taste wine, delicious food and enjoy the beautiful landscape and for what they were born many bed & breakfast and farm where host visitors. The new association Events & Tourism seeks to coordinate the flow of tourists with completely new initiatives as Cantine be visited coordinated by the Tourist Office site in Martyrs Square, in the small forward, where are vision and sale the new guide Living La Morra . We must not forget, however, the internal life of the country that is always in motion. For example, there are many associations that are active in the area: La Morra Pro, AVIS, Civil Protection, Group volunteers Relief Workers' Association, Caritas, Association Alpini, Corale San Martino all occupy an important role in the country thanks to their numerous initiatives for charity. The production of wines in La Morra is the main activity in the country. The most valuable and most widely grown grape in the hills of La Morra is the Nebbiolo, from which it derives the Langhe Nebbiolo and especially the Barolo. They are also cultivated Dolcetto, Barbera, Freisa, the Favorita, the Nascetta and other international varieties. The wines of 70 producers of La Morra can be purchased at the Cantina Comunale di La Morra, who often organizes themed tastings and food and wine events. In less exposed hillsides and therefore less suited to viticulture, or in the valley, for the past 20 years it has spread the cultivation of hazelnut trefoil, that here boasts the IGP. This high-quality fruit is used for a variety of confectionery products and fine pastry.