Bra & Pollenzo

Introducing Bra & Pollenzo

Until the late 1980s, Bra, around 15km west of Alba, was a little-known provincial market town. That changed when Italian journalists were inspired to write a manifesto railing against the fast-food juggernaut. Following its publication, the Slow Food Movement was born in Bra. Today the town remains home to the Slow Food headquarters (0172 41 96 11; www.slowfood.it; Via della Mendicità Istruita 14), though there’s not a lot to see apart from an office (dispensing leaflets) and a small bookshop; plus an affiliated restaurant, Osteria del Boccondivino.

Foodie associations aside, Bra’s historic centre contains some stately architecture. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the town underwent something of a baroque building boom, the best example of which is the Chiesa di San Andrea (Piazza Caduti), designed by Bernini. The Santuario della Madonna dei Fiori (Viale Madonna dei Fiori) is an impressive baroque/neoclassical chapel complex devoted to the Madonna, who supposedly appeared here in 1336.

Eclectic displays at Bra’s Museo Civico Artistico-Storico (0172 42 38 80; Palazzo Traversa, Via Parpera 4; admission free; 3-6pm Tue-Thu, 10am-noon & 3-6pm Sat & Sun 2nd week of month) range from Roman artefacts, 18th-century paintings and medieval weaponry; while the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale (0172 41 20 10; Via Craveri 15; admission free; 3-6pm Tue-Sun) features fossils, minerals and stuffed birds.

Around 4km southeast of Bra is the Roman village of Pollenzo, once an important Roman settlement and today home to the Università di Scienze Gastronomiche (University of Gastronomic Sciences; 0172 45 84 19; www.unisg.it; Piazza Vittorio Emanuele 9). The campus occupies a former royal palace, and offers three-year courses in gastronomy and food management. The complex has an acclaimed restaurant (Guido Ristorante; 0172 45 84 22; www.guidoristorante.it; set menus €75; Tue-Sat, closed Jan & Aug) flanked by soaring brick arches, a hotel (Albergo Dell’Agenzia; below), and the Banca del Vino (0172 45 84 18; www.bancadelvino.it in Italian), and a wine cellar/‘library’ of Italian wines. Free guided tastings are available by reservation. The university also has a campus in Colorno, in the province of Parma.

Bra’s tourist office (0172 43 01 84; www.comune.bra.cn.it in Italian; Via Moffa di Lisio 14; 9am-1pm & 3-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-noon Sat & Sun Mar-Nov) has information on both towns and the region.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009