• General characteristics
The municipality of Canelli is located in Piedmont, in the south of the province of Asti.
It is located on the first opening of the Belbo torrent valley, on a modest portion of the plain, and two large hill areas (separated by the Belbo axis), which represent the last offshoots of the Asti hill on the right bank of the Tanaro river. The other is the first slopes of the Langa itself.
Over 70% of the municipal territory is located in the hills, with softer slopes towards the north; steeper and steep, with frequent split cones in the southern area. The maximum altitude is 500 meters s.l.m. around (Merlini district), the minimum is 150 meters s.l.m. about (plain along the Belbo torrent). The most important watercourse is the Belbo which is characterized by a torrential regime that in the past has generated frequent flooding.
The inhabitants of Canelli are called Canellesi.
• Palazzo Anfossi - Headquarter of the Municipality of Canelli
Palazzo “Anfossi” is the seat of the Municipality of Canelli since the beginning of the 20th century.
The image on the side is taken from a postcard of 1919 and bears the inscription “the new municipal building”.
The previous building was located in the current Piazza A. Aosta on the first floor of the beautiful “Scarazzini” building.
Anfossi were a wealthy Canelli family who had fostered the construction of numerous works with munificent donations, including the hospital that was originally named after them.
At the end of the nineteenth century, the municipal administration acquired the building that at the time was peripheral to the city center but offered large open spaces, places for the recovery of carriages and horses, and comfortable rooms for public offices.
After the disastrous flood of 1994 that had seriously damaged the Town Hall, the Palace was radically restored.
The inauguration of the restored building took place on April 2, 2000. The restoration is the work of the architect Canellese Gianmarco Cavagnino, who imagined the town hall as a “big ship, which with its commander points the bow towards distant boundaries. port of the world… “.
On the mezzanine floor of Palazzo Anfossi there are the Demographic Service offices; climbing the staircase you reach the corridor on the first floor, the “Gallery of the Knights of Labor” (there are busts or photographic images of the eight Knights of Labor that Canelli boasts). From this corridor you can access the office of the Mayor, the Secretary General and the reception room of the Assessors. On the right side, there is access to the Hall of the Municipal Council and to the office of the Municipal messenger. From the left side of the corridor you can access the modern structure that houses the various offices of the Secretariat and, on the lower floor, the Accounting Office.
The Council Hall is named after the Deputy Mayor and Councilor Piero Invernizzi who died prematurely in 1995. In the room are preserved some banners used for the historical re-enactment of the Siege of Canelli, the Gonfalone, various memorabilia, and the collection of pre-unification laws.
On the ceiling of the Mayor's office, on that of the last floor of the building and on the floor of the underground hall, golden stars on a blue background are depicted. This peculiarity has inspired the name of the large underground hall, which is in fact called “the hall of the stars”. This is the former cellar of the building used by the Anfossi family as a place of wine production, as evidenced by the various tanks in vitrified cement that were preserved until 1994.
Today, the Sala delle Stelle (Hall of the Stars) is a venue for conferences and meetings. It has 65 seats and a sound system. It can also be accessed via the two lifts in service at the municipal building.
See also...
• Municipium, the App of your Municipality
