Mondovì Sundials (Meridiane e Elementi di Gnomonica)

Two Sundials in Mondovì, Piemonte


“La città di Mondovì è ricca di meridiane. Se ne contano 20 complessi in città circa 10 nelle immediate vicinanze.” This is the description on a plaque on the Torre dei Bressano in the Giardino del Belvedere in Mondovì Piazza (upper Mondovì). The sign indiates that Mondovì is rich with sundials. You can find 20 elaborate ones in the city and 10 in the immediate vicinity of the tower. In this post we describe six sundials that we saw. (Hopefully we describe them correctly. We knew nothing about sundials before trying to figure out what we were seeing here in Mondovì!)

Some of the sundials around Mondovì according a sign in the Giardino del Belvedere (pictured here) are:
- Ore Canoniche
- Ore Italiche da Campanile (pictured included)
- Ore Francesi (pictured included)
- Linea Meridiana (pictured included)
- Linee Diurne
- Curva Lemniscata (pictured included)
- Ore Bablioniche

Sundial 1: The first sundial shown here is with Ore Francesi (French Hours) which was an early name for the equal hour system with two 12 hours days that began at midday and midnight. The face of building that this sundial is on faces southwest (azimuth 140 degrees). The photo was taken around 12:30pm. The building is on via della Meridiana.

Sundial 2: The second sundial shown here is the Linea Meridiana (Meridian Line) is on the same building face as the the first sundial. The second sundial provides the local time around noon, often called a Noon Sundial.

Sundial 3: The third sundial shown here is in the same piazza (Piazza San Pietro) as the first two but on a building that faces southeast (azimuth 15 degrees) and shows ore italiche (Italian hours). This sundial shows the number of hours elapsed since the most recent sunset. For more on the terminology used in sundials, check out this informative page.

Sundial 4: The fourth sundial is in Mondovì Piazza, on the Piazza Maggiore, Palazo del Governatore building where there is a large sundial (ore europee con lemniscata sulla linea del mezzogiorno) for indicating hours of the day and noon (noon sundial). This sundial faces southeast (azimuth 30 degrees).

Sundial 5: The fifth sundial shown here is on the Torre dei Bressano. It is a sundial facing southeast (azimuth 85 degrees) with equal hours and equinox lines. The winter solstice line is concave facing up, the equinoxes are the straight line, and the summer solstice line is the concave facing down. For more on what the azimuth means see this primer on azimuth lines.

Sundial 6: The sixth sundial shown here is in the in the Giardino del Belvedere and it is a horizonal sundial. And finally, the seventh sundial is an equatorial sundial adjacent to the Torre.

(The numbering for the pictures shown below refers to the number of the sundial as it was discussed above. The sundials in and around Mondovì do not follow this numbering.)

Sundial 1 on Via Meridiana - Equal Hours Sundial


Sundial 2 on Via Meridiana - Noon Sundial (On the Right)


Piazza San Pietro, Mondovì


Sundial 3 in Piazza San Pietro, Mondovì - Hours Since Last Sunset


Sundial(s) 4 in Piazza Maggiore, Mondovì


Sundial 5 on Torre dei Bressano (Torre Civica), Mondovì


Sundial 6 in Giardino del Belvedere. Mondovì


Sundial 7 - An Equatorial Sundial - Giardino del Belvedere, Mondovì


Sundial Informational, Giardino del Belvedere, Mondovì

For more examples of sundials in Mondovì and Piemonte, see Selected Sundials (Meridane) of Southwest Piedmont (Piemonte).

Torre dei Bressano (Torre Civica), Mondovì

Two Clock Faces of Torre dei Bressano

In the Giardino del Belvedere in Breo Mondovì stands the Torre dei Bressano with its huge clocks all sides. Location. The tower is quite visible from a distance and really is the symbol of the town at 30 meters (98 feet) tall and 559 meters (1,833 feet) above sea level. What’s interesting - and not apparent on first glance - is that the open area around the tower was once the church of St. Andrea and the tower was the bell tower of the church. The church was destroyed in the early 1800's and the current park began to take shape around the tower. The name of the tower comes from the Bressano family, a powerful family in Mondovì.

Views of Torre dei Bressano



Giardino del Belvedere


Torre dei Bressano Information



View of Mondovì from the Northeast


Views from the Belvedere



Views from Cascina Bringin Toward Mondovì



Monviso or Monte Viso Early and Mid-Morning

Mondovì Funicular (Funicolare)

Mondovì Funicular and Arches

The town of Mondovì is situated on two levels, Breo (the lower level) and Piazza (the upper level). The two are naturally connected by roads, but you can also take the funicular (funicolare in Italian) as well. The funicular was closed for over thirty years and reopened in 2006 after a rebuild. More facts. It just takes a few minutes to get from one part of the town to the other. Once in the Piazza, you will want to make your way to the Giardino del Belvedere to take in the panorama and walk around the Torre dei Bressano.

Entrance to the Funicular in Breo

Funicular Plaque with Description

Inside the Funicular

View Down to Breo

View from the Funicular Looking Northwest

Funicular Tracks

Chiesa S.S. Pietro e Paolo in Breo Mondovì Near the Funicular Entrance

A Week in Mondovì – Piemonte

Stefano's Wine Bottles, Villanova Mondovì

Here we are again back in Piemonte. The name of this region derives from medieval Latin “ad pedem montium” meaning “at the foot of the mountains”. So at the foot of the mountains we are making the rounds to visit family. They surely must be sick of us? The answer seems to be no and in fact, they ask: why do we spend so little time here?

We decided this time to base ourselves just outside of Mondovì at the wonderful Cascina Bringin B&B. In previous trips we stayed in Serra Pamparato at Residenza Pietrabruno and in Dogliani at Poderie Einaudi. Cascina Bringin turns out to work great for this trip. The proprietors, Caterina and Beppe, are wonderful. The breakfasts that are carried to our room every morning and lovingly assembled in front of our eyes by Caterina are incredible. We engaged her for 30 minutes or so every morning to explain the types of food she prepared and its history. This is a highlight of every day.

We ate, naturally, mostly at the relatives’ houses, but went out a few times. In particular, we had a big mid-day meal at Circolo located in Sant'Anna di Roracco a frazione of Mondovì (location). Circolo is a Catholic charity that provides employment for those in need. It was a very good meal. We ate a wonderful Sunday dinner with another branch of the family at Il Palazzetto (location). An old converted farm and prior to a farm, a convent, and now a restaurant with a few rooms for lodging.

Most of the time we were engaged with meeting up with the four branches of family in the region, but we did have some time to check out a few new things including:

- Explore Mondovì. We started in the lower town, Breo, and worked our way to the upper town, Piazza, via the funicular.

- Visit Grotta di Bossea – an interesting cave south of Mondovì.

- Visit Il Castello Racconigi - one of the many Savory castles.

- Spend an afternoon in Cherasco, a small town where there are the fabulous chocolate shops of Barbera Cioccolato and Ravera. We had a fantastic lunch at Osteria La Torre.

- Visit the town of Carrù and get a closeup look at a building that was under restoration in the town center.

- Stop at Casa Baladin, a birreria in Piozzo, Cuneo (CN) for refreshments. The birreria is set up like a Moroccan Riad. There is a steam room and rooms to spend the night. Very high concept. We tasted a few of the signature beers and something called Baladin Spuma Nera, we believe a non-alcoholic drink that was very nice.

View from Mondovì Piazza Toward Cascina Bringin


View from Il Palazzetto Twoard Sacrario San Bernardo, Clavesana



Sacrario San Bernardo, Clavesana


Driving Near Sant'Anna Roracco, Mondovì


Caterina's Tortellini in Bordo, Ceva


Rubata - A Type of Piemontese Grissini, Breakfast at Cascina Bringin, Mondovì


Prosciutto, Breakfast at Cascina Bringin, Modovì


Poached Pears, Breakfast at Cascina Bringin, Modovì


Lardo, Breakfast at Cascina Bringin, Modovì


Apple Fritters, Breakfast at Cascina Bringin, Modovì


After Dinner Bugie with Different Fillings, Mostly Jam, Ceva


Baladin Beer Sampling, Piozzo


The Bulls (I Buoi), Carrù

Lunch in Cremona

Cremona - Duomo Statue


We stopped in Cremona as we headed north and west from Ravenna to Mondovì. It was a gray day but we had a wonderful lunch at La Sosta and then had a quick look around Cremona’s main piazza, Piazza del Commune. In that piazza there is the impressive Romanesque-Gothic Duomo di Cremona and its equally impressive bell tower, the Torrazzo of Cremona. Of course we had to climb up the tower. There are 502 steps to the top and the tower is 112 meters high. It is reported to be the third highest brickwork tower in Europe by Wikipedia. The sign at the base of the tower stated it was the highest in Europe. At any rate, it is big and worth a climb.

La Sosta is just a few steps away from the duomo. We had a very nice lunch there with some nervetti – tendons - which are a specialty of the Lombard region (recipe); lingua – tongue; and salumi di casa – or salumi nostrani as they say. We had some good pasta dishes and split a secondo of fried thyroids with mushrooms and potatoes. Maybe doesn’t sound that good written out, but it was delicious. Definitely worth a stop if you are in Cremona.

Cremona Astronomical Clock


Looking Down from Cremona's Il Torrazzo




Il Torrazzo Information


Cremona Duomo and Statues




Lunch at La Sosta