Villanova Mondovì, Italy

1. Piazza Maggiore (Mondovì)

Directions

Official website

Quick facts: Broad stone porticoes hum with the clatter of cafés and local chatter, while elegant arcades and a baroque façade glow in late-afternoon light. Evenings often bring live folk music and open-air markets, where the scent of baking focaccia mingles with a cool mountain breeze.

Highlights: At golden hour the square's uneven cobbles glow like toasted chestnuts and vendors string up about 20 meters of paper lanterns, while neighbors share plates of tajarin and robiola cheese and the air fills with espresso and wood smoke. Each summer a quirky tradition draws roughly 300 locals who roll a hand-painted wooden barrel down the central slope, cheering as it clatters past the old 17th-century well, with the winner earning bragging rights and a warm plate of focaccia.

2. Funicolare di Mondovì (Mondovì Funicular)

Quick facts: A short, scenic cable ride links the lower and upper quarters, packing steep panoramas and charming medieval streets into just a few minutes. Riders notice the gentle clack of rails and windows framing the valley below, making the ascent feel like a tiny theatrical journey through light and stone.

Highlights: An elderly conductor in a flat cap still punches paper tickets by hand and rings a battered brass bell at exactly 07:05 each morning, a ritual locals insist chases away bad weather. Passengers lean against varnished wooden seats and watch the town unfold beneath them in a slow cinematic climb: red roofs, a church spire, and the metallic tang of the carriage as the cable hums underfoot.

3. Duomo di Mondovì (Cattedrale di San Donato)

Directions

Official website

Quick facts: Step inside and you'll find a soaring nave and painted ceiling that pull your eyes toward vivid frescoes, while afternoon light filters through stained glass in a warm honeyed glow. Local guides point out a rare set of Baroque altarpieces and a bell tower whose clear, almost orchestral chimes surprise visitors during village festivals.

Highlights: Climb the narrow stone staircase and you might find a tiny chapel where the air smells of warmed beeswax and cedar, while a 17th-century fresco tucked above the altar reveals bright lapis blues if you squint up close. A whispered tradition keeps the five bronze bells rung slowly on certain feast days, the deliberate, low toll stretching for about 90 seconds so the sound seems to pool in the cobbled square outside.

4. Torre Civica di Mondovì (Civic Tower)

Directions

Official website

Quick facts: Climbing the narrow spiral staircase rewards you with a close-up of intricate wooden-and-brass clockwork, whose gears still tick and can be heard through the tower’s stone walls. Listen as a ring of bronze bells, each tuned to different notes, peals across the streets on the quarter hour, turning a simple chime into a surprisingly musical local signature.

Highlights: Climbing the narrow spiral staircase up the tower reveals a 19th-century clockwork, brass wheels and iron cogs glinting in the dim, while the pendulum thumps like a slow, metallic heartbeat you can feel in your chest. Local lore says that on the eve of the town's patron saint people whisper a name into the bell rope and tug three times for luck, the rough hemp smelling faintly of smoke and lemon oil as laughter drifts across the piazza.

5. Breo (historic lower quarter of Mondovì)

Directions

Official website

Quick facts: Wander down sun-warmed, cobbled alleys and you'll hear lively chatter spilling from tiny cafés tucked beneath medieval arcades, the smell of espresso blending with bread from corner bakeries. Locals will tell you there are more than a dozen hidden stairways and rooftop viewpoints that reward patient explorers with surprise panoramas and quiet benches where time slows.

Highlights: At dusk the narrow cobbled lanes fill with the scent of espresso and roasting chestnuts as vendors under the low arcades arrange stacks of faded postcards and brass keys, the warm lamplight making frescoed walls seem to glow. On misty mornings three church bells answer one another in uneven rhythms, and neighbors lift small wooden shutters to hand over steaming cups of cocoa while murmuring century-old stories in the local dialect.

6. Villanova Mondovì (historic centre)

Directions

Official website

Quick facts: Wandering the narrow, cobbled alleys feels like stepping into a living postcard, where bright shutters and tiny artisan workshops open onto sudden panoramic views of sunlit valleys. You can overhear friendly neighbors trading recipes while local cafés pour espresso for under two euros, and weekend markets still burst with chestnuts, cured hams, and handcrafted ceramics.

Highlights: Wander the narrow cobbled lanes and you'll notice tiny brass plaques on dozens of doorways bearing family names from the 1600s, and at dusk the quarter fills with the warm smell of wood-fired focaccia, rosemary and olive oil from three family-run bakeries. Every late-September evening a low-key procession still carries a carved wooden chest through the main street while neighbours clap in time, a quirky tradition locals say began as a centuries-old ritual to bless stored grain after floods.

7. Belvedere di Mondovì (Panoramic viewpoint)

Quick facts: From the elevated viewpoint you can drink in a patchwork of vineyards and medieval rooftops, and on clear days the distant Alps carve the skyline with startling clarity. Evenings glow with golden light that warms the stone and fills the air with cicadas and the soft murmur of nearby villages, turning the panorama into an almost cinematic scene.

Highlights: At golden hour the viewpoint offers an almost theatrical 360-degree panorama where the jagged line of the Alps meets terraced vineyards, and a warm breeze sometimes carries the scent of baking polenta from nearby kitchens. Local guides point out a tiny 1888 brass bell on the balustrade that villagers still ring to celebrate the first truly clear day of spring, its bright tone cutting across the valley for about three seconds.

8. Chiesa Parrocchiale di Villanova Mondovì (Parish Church)

Quick facts: Visitors often pause beneath the vaulted ceiling to admire a surprising mix of Baroque frescoes and restrained Neoclassical lines, sunlight from high windows scattering over gilded altars. Local organ concerts fill the nave with warm, resonant pipes, and during festivals the space swells with voices in a tradition locals count among their proudest cultural treasures.

Highlights: Peek behind the marble altar and you'll find a tiny carved chest where parishioners have slipped handwritten intentions for over 130 years, the paper edges softened by candle smoke and the scent of beeswax. During the September patron feast an old bell tolls exactly 33 times at dawn while local families pass around trays of 50 salted focaccine to share, a quirky ritual said to bless the year's harvest.

9. Parco della Rimembranza, Mondovì

Quick facts: A hush settles along the park’s tree-lined paths, where sun-warmed stone and the scent of resin invite slow walking and quiet reflection. Visitors often linger by weathered plaques and small clearings that frame sweeping hill views, discovering an unexpectedly intimate spot for remembrance and peaceful picnics.

Highlights: Look for the neat circle of exactly 100 slender poplars planted after World War I, their trunks turning gold and casting a lattice of light on the gravel paths each late afternoon. Local kids still race down the park's old stone amphitheater during an autumn scavenger hunt hosted by the parish, and if you stand by the central bronze plaque you can hear the town bell chime five times as the sun slips below the hills.

10. Museo della Ceramica di Mondovì

Quick facts: Step inside and you’ll encounter a dazzling range of glazes and hand-painted motifs, from luminous majolica plates to sturdy earthenware that showcase meticulous regional techniques. Unexpected details pop up everywhere, like repaired handles, maker's marks, and playful folk designs that reveal everyday lives and tastes as vividly as a written record.

Highlights: Peek behind the glass and you'll find a cabinet of 2,400 hand-painted maiolica tiles, each stamped with a tiny red dot and the initials 'G.C.' to mark a master's final brushstroke, a secret sign restorers still use. Every spring curator Marta pours exactly 1.5 liters of honey-colored glaze into an oak mold while volunteers ring a small brass bell, a quirky blessing said to keep the terra di sole pigments vivid for another century.