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Home > Travel Italy > Italy Destinations > Chieri
Chieri
Italy, officially the Italian Republic or Repubblica Italiana, is a Southern European country comprising of the Po River valley, the Italian Peninsula and the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. It is shaped like a boot and for this reason Italians commonly call it lo Stivale, the boot or, due to its prevalent peninsular geographical nature, la Penisola, the Peninsula.
Chieri is a town in the province of Turin, Piedmont, Italy, located about 11 kilometers southeast of Turin 15 kilometers by rail and 13 kilometers by road. Chieri borders the municipalities are Baldissero Torinese, Pavarolo, Montaldo Torinese, Santena, Pino Torinese, Arignano, Cambiano, Andezeno, Riva presso Chieri, Pecetto Torinese, Poirino. The city was founded around the first or second Century AD as the Roman settlement of Carreum Potentia, which was sited nearby a prominent hill which later became known as San Giorgio and which grew to be the geographical focus of the city centre.
In 1785, Chieri became a Principality under the control of the duke of Aosta. The latter 18th century again brought French domination, this time under the conquests of Napoleon Bonaparte, but this period also witnessed the establishment of a major Textile mill, which consolidated and built upon the city's base as a medieval centre for Textile trade and manufacture. Numerous other textile factories followed in the late 19th century, with textile manufacture originating from Chieri playing a prominent role even in international Textile Fairs. The year 1850 saw the demolition of the old medieval city gates and the privatization of the city walls, which at that time still demarcated the limits of the entire city.
In 1871 a railroad link was constructed to the city, partly due to contributions from the municipality and from wealthy citizens, in the form of the Chieri-Trofarello branch line was to serve the now very significant Textile industry of the city, with the building of the railway station also serving to initiate in the surrounding area the erection of the first city quarter built outside its walls.
The early 20th century brought the electrification of the Textile industries in 1909, but also the rise of Fascism in Italy. World War II caused no direct bombardments to the city despite the relocation, from the nearby major industrial centre of Turin, of numerous factories and heavy industry manufacture; German occupation of the city followed the fall of Benito Mussolini in 1943, until its liberation by American forces.
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