Mondovì

Mondovì stands in southern Piedmont, where hilltop settlement and lower market districts connect the plains with routes toward the Maritime Alps and Liguria. Farming, vineyards, livestock, and craft production supported the surrounding country, while commerce brought local goods into wider circulation. Roads crossing a varied landscape gave the town opportunities to serve travelers and exchange between environments. Churches and civic institutions helped organize urban life and relationships with neighboring villages.

After several changes of rule, Mondovì came under the House of Savoy in 1418. A printing press was established there in 1472, and the town hosted a university from 1560 to 1566. French forces occupied it in 1537; Duke Emmanuel Philibert restored it to Savoyard rule in 1560. Its civic and religious institutions developed within these changing political circumstances.