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{{for|the football team|A.C.S.D. Saluzzo}}

{{Infobox Italian comune
| name                = Saluzzo
| official_name       = Città di Saluzzo
| native_name         = {{native name|pms|Salusse}}
| image_skyline       = Saluzzo_veduta.jpg
| imagesize           = 
| image_alt           = 
|image_flag=Flag of Saluzzo.svg| image_caption       = 
| image_shield        = Coat_of_arms_of_Saluzzo.svg
| shield_alt          = 
| image_map           = 
| map_alt             = 
| map_caption         = 
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_alt     = 
| coordinates         = {{coord|44|39|N|07|29|E|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| region              = [[Piedmont]]
| province            = [[Province of Cuneo|Cuneo]] (CN)
| frazioni            = Casa Fornace, Cascina Budigiai, [[Castellar, Piedmont|Castellar]], Colombaro Rossi, La Creusa, La Stella, Le Prese, Regione Liona, Regione Paschere, Revalanca, Ruata Eandi, Ruata Re, San Bernardino, Sant'Ugo, Torrazza
| mayor_party         = Civic List
| mayor               = Mauro Calderoni (since 27 May 2014)
| area_footnotes      = 
| area_total_km2      = 75
| population_total    = 17,574
| population_as_of    = 31 December 2023
| population_footnotes = <ref>Data from [[National Institute of Statistics (Italy)|ISTAT]]</ref>
| pop_density_footnotes = 
| population_demonym  = Saluzzese(i)
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m         = 395
| twin1               = 
| twin1_country       = 
|istat=| saint               = [[St. Chiaffredo]]
| day                 = The Monday after the First September's Sunday
| postal_code         = 12037
| area_code           = 0175
| website             = {{URL|http://www.comune.saluzzo.cn.it/}}
| footnotes           = 
}}
'''Saluzzo''' ({{IPA|it|saˈluttso|lang}}; {{langx|pms|Salusse}} {{IPA|pms|saˈlyse|}}) is a town and former principality in the [[province of Cuneo]], in the [[Piedmont]] region, [[Italy]].

The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are found in the surrounding mountains. On 1 January 2017 it had a population of 17.581

Saluzzo was the birthplace of the writer [[Silvio Pellico]] and of typographer [[Giambattista Bodoni]].

==History==
[[File:Saluzzo medieval buildings 11-12-21.jpg|thumb|Medieval buildings in the old sector]]{{See also|Marquisate of Saluzzo}}
Saluzzo (Salusse in [[Piedmontese language|Piedmontese]]) was a ''civitas'' (tribal city state) of the Vagienni, or mountain [[Ligures]], and later of the [[Salluvii]]. This district was brought under Roman control by the Consul [[Marcus Fulvius Flaccus (consul 125 BC)|Marcus Fulvius]] {{Circa|125 BC}}.

In the [[Carolingian]] age it became the residence of a [[count]]; later, having passed to the Marquesses of [[Susa, Italy|Susa]], [[Manfredo I of Saluzzo|Manfred I]], son of Marquess Bonifacio del Vasto, on the division of that principality became Marquess of Saluzzo; this family held the marquisate of Saluzzo from 1142 to 1548. The marquisate embraced the territory lying between the Alps, the Po and the Stura, and was extended on several occasions. In the Middle Ages it had a chequered existence, often being in conflict with powerful neighbours, chiefly the Counts (later Dukes) of Savoy. After [[Manfredo II of Saluzzo|Manfred II]]'s death, his widow had to accept a series of tributes, which were to be later the base of the [[House of Savoy]]'s claims over the increasingly feebler marquises' territories. [[Thomas III of Saluzzo|Thomas III]], a vassal of France, wrote the romance ''Le chevalier errant'' ('the knight-errant').

[[Ludovico I of Saluzzo|Ludovico I]] (1416–75) started the Golden Age of the city and imposed himself as a mediator between the neighbouring powers. [[Ludovico II of Saluzzo|Ludovico II]] constructed a [[Monte Viso Tunnel|tunnel]], no longer in use, through the [[Monviso]], a remarkable work for the time. With the help of the French he resisted a vigorous siege by the Duke of Savoy in 1486, but in 1487 yielded and retired to France where he wrote ''L'art de la chevalerie sous Vegèce'' ("The art of chivalry under Vegetius", 1488), a treatise on good government, and other works on military affairs. He was a [[patron]] of clerics and authors. In 1490 Ludovico regained power, but after his death, his sons struggled longly for the rule and impoverished the state.

After long struggles for independence, the marquisate was occupied (1548) by the French, as a fief of the Crown of [[Kingdom of France|France]] – with the name of '''''Saluces''''' – and remained part of that kingdom until it was ceded to [[Duchy of Savoy|Savoy]] in 1601. In 1588 [[Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy]] took possession of the city. Thenceforward Saluzzo shared the destinies of Piedmont, with which it formed "one of the keys of the house" of Italy.

The Marquisate of Saluzzo is the setting of [[Giovanni Boccaccio|Boccaccio's]] tale of [[Griselda (folklore)|Griselda]], the final story in the [[Decameron]], as well as [[Geoffrey Chaucer|Chaucer's]] [[The Clerk's Prologue and Tale|Clerk's Tale]] in ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/gchaucer/bl-gchau-can-clerk.htm |title=Classic Literature |access-date=March 7, 2007 |archive-date=April 8, 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030408023033/http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/gchaucer/bl-gchau-can-clerk.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The municipality of Saluzzo absorbed at the beginning of 2019 the neighbouring commune of [[Castellar, Piedmont|Castellar]], thus enforcing the results of a referendum held in the summer of 2018.<ref>''Referendum sulla fusione Saluzzo-Castellar: vince il sì''; article on [[La Stampa]] of July 16, 2018, see [https://www.lastampa.it/cuneo/2018/07/16/news/referendum-sulla-fusione-saluzzo-castellar-vince-il-si-1.34031900 www.lastampa.it]</ref>

== Geography ==
The municipality of Saluces occupies a vast area of {{cvt|7659|ha}} in the [[Po Valley]], about {{cvt|35|km}} east of [[Monte Viso|Mount Viso]].
[[File:Saluzzo street Monviso 11-12-21.jpg|thumb|Medieval street with the city wall and Monviso visible in the distance]]

== Duomo ==
The {{ill|Cathedral of Saluzzo|it|Duomo di Saluzzo}}, also known as the Cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin Mary of the Assumption, stands out for its [[Tardo gotico|Late-Gothic]] forms; built outside the walls just beyond Porta Santa Maria between 1491 and 1501, it was a bishop's seat starting from 1511. The façade is in exposed brick, adorned by three portals surmounted by terracotta gables that house statues of the apostles (central portal), while above the side there are the patron San Chiaffredo and San Costanzo. The interior has a covering made up of cross vaults, while the Baroque high altar with its large impact is of great impact eleven wooden statues by [[Carlo Giuseppe Plura]] and collaborators. In the central nave, you can admire a precious fourteenth-century wooden crucifix. To the left of the main altar is the Chapel of the SS. Sacramento, with a polyptych by the Flemish artist of French origin [[Hans Clemer]], better known as Maestro d'Elva.

== Toponymy ==
The [[Marquisate of Saluzzo]] was the seat of a [[Piedmontese Republic|Piedmontese]] principality whose history is closely linked to that of its powerful neighbor, the [[House of Savoy]], until its definitive incorporation obtained in 1601 by Duke [[Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy|Charles Emmanuel]].

The French name of Saluces was given to the city during the period of French domination. There are many traces of this francization still today as on the pediment of the casa cavassa today transformed into a museum where you can read the motto "right whatever it is."

==Main sights==
[[File:Saluzzo0002.jpg|thumb|Chiesa di San Giovanni]]

*{{ill|Cathedral of Saluzzo|it|Duomo di Saluzzo}} (1491–1501): Church was built in Lombard-Gothic style. The façade is decorated with rose-windows, frescoes (almost totally faded) and statues. The interior contains a magnificent Baroque high altar, plus a 16th-century terracotta group portraying the ''Deposition'', ad ''Adoration of the Shepherds'' by [[Sebastiano Ricci]].
*''San Bernardo'' church formerly belonging to the Conventuals, has interesting tombs of the counts della Torre.
*''San Giovanni'': Dominican church begun in 1330 in Gothic style and completed in 1504 with [[Bramante]]sque influences. The façade is [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]]. The apse, from 1504, houses a Funerary Chapel of Ludovico II, work by [[Antoine Le Moiturier]] (1425–74) covered with green stone and characterized by an elegant play of arches and sculptures. The sepulchre of Ludovico II is a Renaissance work by [[Benedetto Briosco]]. Annexed are the Gothic cloister and the Capitular Hall with the Mausoleum of a vicar-general of the marquisate, Galeazzo Cavassa di Carmagnola, a Renaissance work by [[Matteo Sanmicheli]].
*[[Casa Cavassa]]: site of the civic museum and rebuilt with a Renaissance interior.
*''San Agostino'' and ''San Bernardino''
*''Town Hall'' is the former [[Jesuit]] College, while the older one (1462), with a bold tower, is utilized by the Court of Assizes. The 16th century ''Villa Belvedere'' has elegant rooms with late-Renaissance decorations.

== Notable people ==
*[[Alice of Saluzzo]]
*General [[Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa]]
*Marquess [[Michele Antonio di Saluzzo]]
*[[Silvio Pellico]], writer
*[[Giambattista Bodoni]], typographer
*[[Corrado Segre]], mathematician
*[[Federico Lombardi]], Jesuit priest, director of [[Radio Vatican]]
*[[Pier Paolo Maggiora]], architect
*{{ill|Luciano Nizzola|it}}, soccer dirigent
*[[Paolo De Chiesa]], skier
*[[Magda Olivero]], singer
*{{ill|Isacco Levi|it}}, partisan
*[[Juan de Canaveris|Giovanni Canaveri]], related to the [[May Revolution]]
*[[Matteo Olivero]], Italian painter related to [[divisionism]]
*[[Alberto Basso]], music historian and lexicographer
*[[Giacomo Segre]], artillery officer in the [[Third Italian War of Independence]], born in Saluzzo
*[[Elvira Petrozzi]], [[Nun#Catholicism|nun]] and founder of Saluzzo-based international youth community Comunità Cenacolo<ref name="cenacolo-laityfamilylife">{{cite web|url=https://www.laityfamilylife.va/content/laityfamilylife/en/associazioni-e-movimenti/repertorio/comunita-cenacolo.html|accessdate=9 May 2025|title=Cenacolo Community|author=Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life}}</ref><ref name="cenacolo-chi-siamo-it">{{cite web|url=https://www.comunitacenacolo.it/official/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86&Itemid=539|language=it|accessdate=9 May 2025|title=La Comunità Cenacolo}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Giovenale Ancina|Beato Giovanni Giovenale Ancina]]
*[[Castle of Verzuolo]]
*[[Diocese of Saluzzo]]
*[[Griselda (folklore)]]
*[[List of Margraves of Saluzzo]]
*[[Marquisate of Saluzzo]]
*[[Saluzzo Race Walking School]]
*[[Saluzzo Roosters]]

==Sources==
{{no footnotes|date=August 2016}}
{{Reflist}}
*{{Catholic|wstitle=Saluzzo}}
*''L'Italia da scoprire'', Guide di Bell'Italia, ed. Giorgio Mondadori, 2006

== External links ==
{{commonscatinline}}
* [http://www.saluzzoturistica.it/ Saluzzo turistica], official Saluzzo tourist webpage.


{{Province of Cuneo}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saluzzo}}
[[Category:Saluzzo| ]]
[[Category:Cities and towns in Piedmont]]