Cirié

Cirié
Comune
Città di Cirié
Cirié: St. John Baptiste's cathedral (appr. year 1920).
Coat of arms
Location of Cirié
UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	10073
Dialing code	011
Patron saint	St. Cyriacus
Website	Official website

Cirié (Italian pronunciation: [tʃiˈrje]; Piedmontese: Ciriè or Siriè) is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) northwest of Turin.

Cirié borders the following municipalities: Nole, San Carlo Canavese, San Maurizio Canavese and Robassomero.

Geography

Cirié, about 18 km northwest of Turin, is located at the end of the Lanzo valleys, close to a plateau called "Vauda", a Celtic origin term indicating a forest. The area is close to the Stura di Lanzo, a creek which flows west northwest of the city.

History

The area around Cirié, since about the third century BC, was inhabited by the

When Christianity expanded in the Roman Empire, Cirié picked up Cyriacus (martyrized in Rome in 303) as patron saint, due to the similarity of his name with the ancient castrum denomination. The famous Il celebre Theatrum Statuum Sabaudiae (1682, a sort of guide of the Savoy territories) gives a long and detailed description of Cirié ("Septimo Taurinense ad Urbe lapide, Septentrionem versus, non longe ab Alpium Graiarum radicibus, occurrit Ciriacum Oppidum, insigne Marchionatus titulo, qui sub se S.Mauritium, Nolas & Robasomerium minora Oppida comprehendit") and cites the probable origin of the village name as being related to the martyr ("Pedemontanis dicitur Cirié, fortasse a peculiari Incolarum erga Divum Cyriacum Martyrem cultu, cujus festum s.Idus Augusti inibi summa celebritate recolitur"). Roman presence in Cirié is testified by several Roman coins, shards of vases and funerary stele (preserved in the San Martino church).

Starting from the

In 1576 the Savoy family exchanged the Cirié area for an access to the sea with the Doria Marquis of Genoa: Gian Gerolamo D'Oria established his residence in Cirié, starting the long dynasty (the D'Oria e del Maro di Cirié) which ruled the city till the last Marquis Emanuele D'Oria, who became the first mayor when Cirié, in force of a royal decree, is established a "city" in 1905.

Main sights

• San Giovanni Battista (known as the Duomo although it is not a
  Sabauda Gallery
  , but the people of Cirié refused.
• Palazzo
  dei Marchesi D'Oria, built in the 17th century over a pre-existing building of the Provana family dating back to the 16th century. The restored palace had a vast park behind it, with a small lake and a tower where the ice formed on the lake in winter was cut and stored to be used during the hottest months. When the D'Oria family was extinguished in the male line (beginning of 1900), the palace and the park were acquired by the healthy Remmert family. The palace became the seat of the city government ("municipio") while the park became a residential area (still known as the "Parco"). The House of Savoy had an apartment reserved inside the palace, when the king and his entourage came to Cirié for their hunting sessions.
• Church of San Giuseppe was built as a votive offering during the 1630−31 plague. The church is in a delicate piedmontese Baroque architecture and has a beautiful altarpiece attributed to Defendente Ferrari.
• Chiesa di San Martino (di Liramo), the oldest church of Cirié, in a
  Saint Martin of Tours
  , whom the church is dedicated, probably dating around 14th century. The church also preserves some Roman tombstones.

References