Kangaroos.. passing through the red earth of Monferrato: A day in Conzano, Piedmont, Italy

content:
photos:
Vote this travel review

A work of art of about two meters square, depicting a kangaroo and arcades located outside of municipal Square Australia: are the first images to greet those who arrive in Conzano, but they are the images that perhaps best of all describe the experience of the other inhabitants of this pretty town of Monferrato. In fact, they usually talk about the Monferrato hills are immersed in the most authentic wine culture, in the green hills of Piedmont Conzano mingles with that of Mount Fox, a volcanic mountain in Ingham, Australia, near which were many Italians of Conzano to work as sugar cane cutters. This town, situated in the Queensland region, overlooking the Coral Sea, has been the destination of emigrants conzanesi that since the late nineteenth century had left behind their homeland to seek fortune far from Italy. Today Conzano, twinned with Ingham, is also called the country of Australia, but it is especially to be the land of the Ingham Italian: More than half of the population is of Italian origin. The link between the two nations is reinforced every year thanks to the hugely popular Australian-Italian Festival and with the skill of surfing wave, door every time a piece of Italy in Australia.
One of the earliest monuments we admire as we walk in Conzano is the Civic Tower, symbol of the town, built around 1200. This tower, made of blocks of tufa conchiglifero, an environment typical of shallow marine deposition and full of marine fossils, was the last vision of the emigrants who have always kept in their hearts even in front of the breathtaking waterfalls Wallaman. Some say that it is no coincidence that a population that somehow came from the sea, he then turned his gaze to the ocean when he felt the need to improve their living conditions away from home.
During our tour in the historic center, the narrow streets running up and down and sometimes when you open a breathtaking view over the surrounding hills, we admired the Parish Church of Saint Lucia, known since the end of the twelfth century as the Church of Santa Maria Conzano, but which has existed before and remodeled several times throughout history. The core architecture of the country is represented by Villa Vidua, the eighteenth-century residence of the counts Vidua, restored after 1996, the year of its acquisition by the municipality. Carlo Vidua, Count of Conzano, who died in 1830 at only 45 years, was a famous explorer, ethnographer and writer who also contributed to the foundation of the Egyptian Museum of Turin.
Moving in the hamlet of San Maurizio discover the beautiful parish church, originally from 1400, built in the late Gothic period and restored in the '60s. The church of San Maurizio, founded in 1418 by Theodore II, Marquess of Montferrat, was consecrated in 1625 and it houses several important works of religious art.
We stay in the fascinating village of San Maurizio for our dinner at the Restaurant Le Terre Rosse. We settle in the large room and begin to enjoy a dinner typical Monferrato, Piedmont with a rich starter, because among other things, rosettes of San Daniele with melon, raw meat to stop knife, funnel Russian salad, asparagus flan with zabaglione savory quiche with leeks and almonds Robiola, roulades with creamy tuna grilled peppers and oregano. We follow this by good gnocchi with four cheese ravioli and sauteed with butter and parmesan truffle shavings, in addition to wafers of parmesan risotto with porcini mushrooms. Watering these delicacies with the best wines of the area including the Cortese, Barbera and Grignolino, taste a delicious roast veal with black truffle, the bites of wild boar, as well as the lamb in the oven and roast pig. We close with a sweet homemade desserts, including trifle, the nougat, the tile and a beautiful chocolate strawberry tart.
This lovely day has taught us that grim delights of authentic, sometimes enough to follow the trail of kangaroos ...

Bertha Frances

FOR INFORMATION:
www.comune.Conzano.al.it
www.leterrerosse.com
Restaurant Le Terre Rosse
Square lenses Banda, 8 - Fraz St. Maurice
Conzano Monferrato (AL)
Tel 0142/925285