Camagna sits atop a hill at an altitude of just 260 meters, yet its position offers excellent views of the surrounding villages and, on clear days, of the Alps and the Ligurian Apennines.
Like many villages in Monferrato, it boasts a history stretching back a thousand years, with particularly eventful periods during the feudal era.
Camagna’s history also bears the tragic marks of World War II. In 1944, members of the local partisan group, the “III brigata Matteotti,” known as Banda Lenti, were captured and executed. The town’s main square is dedicated to their memory.
In medieval times, the village had a castle, now disappeared, though its ruins can still be traced.
Today, Camagna’s skyline is dominated by the monumental dome of the parish church of Sant’Eusebio, originally built in 1581 but rebuilt several times. The dome, 10 meters in diameter and 32 meters high, was designed by Crescentino Caselli, a pupil of the renowned architect Alessandro Antonelli, creator of the dome of the Basilica of San Gaudenzio in Novara and the Mole Antonelliana in Turin. Inside the church, a large painting by Guglielmo Caccia, known as “il Moncalvo,” depicts the Holy Trinity with the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph.
The entrance to the village is marked by one of Italy’s largest murals, created by local artist Silvana Berra, which beautifully portrays a panoramic view of Camagna.
Camagna Monferrato is also home to many Infernot—traditional underground wine cellars—and is included in the itinerary dedicated to these unique structures. Only eight are open to the public, by appointment. In one of them, visitors can witness a rare tradition: the practice of walling up a number of bottles in niches dug into the cellar to mark the birth of a child. The wall was traditionally broken when the child reached adulthood—at 18 for a boy, or just before marriage for a girl. In one cellar, a walled niche bears the date 1948 and is dedicated to a daughter; the wall remains intact, suggesting she never married.
For enthusiasts of the Big Bench project, giant bench number 119, painted red and green, can be found here.
