The city-vineyard

Carema is located at the edge of the province of Turin and is located in a historically border area. It is a very ancient village and there are the first traces dating back to Roman times, such as the milestone of the 40th mile from Augusta, today Aosta, found in the early 1800s under the main altar of the parish church and today preserved in the Curia of Ivrea. From the top of a hill overlooking the valley rises the Chapel of San Rocco considered, together with the Siei Chapel, one of the sentinels of the Caremese basin. The Siei chapel is dedicated to San Grato, reached by pilgrims for penitential rites and processions in order to obtain blessings and fertility of the fields. The village retains the medieval type setting with narrow and winding streets and the ancient houses covered with slate slabs. Also worth visiting is the fountain in via Basilia commissioned, in 1571, by the dukes counts of Challand-Madruzzo. The large basin is surmounted by a dark granite stele bearing heraldic coats of arms and inscriptions in Latin. A little further upstream stands the parish church of San Martino, octagonal in shape and dating back to the 19th century; the bell tower was finished in 1789 and is 60 meters high. Not far from here we find the oldest fountain in the whole village: built in 1460, dedicated to San Matteo and adjacent to the Suplin Chapel. It was a chapel dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament, today called 'di San Matteo', and belonged to the Confraternity of the Disciplini; the sundial on the facade shows the date that is deduced is that of the construction of the chapel, ie 1644. Since 2005, renovations have been made to bring to light the splendor of the place, being used for cultural activities. In Carema it is possible to admire the Torre degli Ugoni, which takes its name from the owners belonging to an ancient and powerful medieval family; The Castle of Castuzzone also belonged to the Ugoni, of which few ruins remain. Among the civilian houses that preserve the beauty of medieval architecture, there is also the Casaforte del Gran Masun, a stone building that housed the military garrison. The nearby hills have all been terraced: it is possible to notice the 'pilun', truncated cone columns built in stone and lime belonging to the so-called topiary architecture, which, today, support the chestnut wood structures around which the vines curl, characteristic of the place. Thanks to the wealth of vineyards, Mario Soldati gave the town the nickname of 'Vineyard City'. Carema wine has always been appreciated since Roman and medieval times: it is the Nebbiolo vine which acquires its characteristics also thanks to the conformation of the soil. The typical wine produced only in this area, within the municipal boundaries, is the Carema DOC, a red wine with a fruity flavor.