Alexandria
Edited by:
Massimo Martini
Access
Alessandria is located in south-eastern Piedmont and can be reached via an articulated motorway network. The main road axis is the Turin-Piacenza-Brescia motorway, which crosses the province in a west-east direction. The Genoa-Gravellona Toce motorway links up near the city, creating a junction towards Liguria and northern Piedmont. The ordinary road network is provided by the state road Padana Inferiore, which runs along the Tanaro valley floor, and the state road connecting to Casale Monferrato. The Alessandria railway station is a junction of the Piedmontese network operated by Trenitalia (TI), with direct connections to Turin, Milan and Genoa. Urban and suburban public transport is managed by AMAG Mobility. The nearest reference airport is Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport, about 80 km away, which can be reached by motorway ; Milan Malpensa Airport is about 115 km to the north.
.Introduction
Alessandria lies on the plains of south-eastern Piedmont, in the section where the Tanaro River receives the waters of the Bormida River before flowing into the Po. The municipal territory stretches over an alluvial plain that opens, to the south and east, onto the foothills of the Monferrato and the northern foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. Founded in 1168 as a newly founded city by the communes of the Lombard League, it immediately took on a defensive function against the expansionist aims of Frederick I of Hohenstaufen, known as Barbarossa, and obtained formal recognition as a free commune with the Peace of Constance in 1183. Over the following centuries, the town was fought over by the Visconti, Sforza and Savoy families, until it was finally annexed to the Duchy of Savoy in 1707. Its position as a crossroads between Piedmont, Liguria and Lombardy determined its profile as a commercial and transit centre, a role it still retains today as the provincial capital and main economic centre of lower Piedmont.
Description
The municipal territory of Alessandria is mainly flat, between 70 and 120 metres above sea level, and characterised by the confluence of the Bormida and the Tanaro to the east of the city centre. The two watercourses have shaped over time a landscape of river terraces and floodplain areas that still host patches of riparian vegetation, with black alder (Alnus glutinosa) and white poplar (Populus alba) along the banks. The surrounding agricultural area is mainly dedicated to cereal and industrial crops, with the presence of vineyards in the hills to the east towards Monferrato.
The founding of the town in the 12th century did not follow the progressive growth of a pre-existing settlement, but was a deliberate act of the allied communities - Bergoglio, Gamondio, Marengo and Rovereto among the main ones - united for reasons of common defence. This character of collective construction left traces in the urban structure, with the permanence of neighbourhoods of distinct origins absorbed into the fabric of the city. Subsequent history was marked by repeated sieges and occupations, including the famous one of 1174-1175 by imperial troops, repulsed thanks also to the legendary resistance narrated in the story of the horse Marengo, whose historical reliability remains debated. The 18th century brought the construction of the Cittadella, a bastioned military complex commissioned by the Savoy family starting in 1728 and designed by ducal engineers, which still today constitutes one of the most extensive examples of military architecture of the period in northern Italy. Umberto Eco, born in Alessandria in 1932, has repeatedly evoked the city in his writings as a place of intellectual formation.
The architectural heritage of the historic centre includes the Duomo di Alessandria, a neoclassical building of 18th-century design, and the Cittadella di Alessandria, included in the European military heritage system. Palazzo Ghilini, seat of the Prefecture, and Palazzo Cuttica di Cassine represent the most outstanding examples of civil Baroque architecture. The municipal territory does not include national or regional protected areas, but the neighbouring municipalities towards Monferrato offer access to the wine-growing landscapes recognised as UNESCO heritage in 2014. For those travelling long-distance routes, Alessandria is located along the route of the Via Francigena in its Piedmontese variant, and is a stopping and starting point for excursions to the eastern Monferrato hills and the Piedmont Po Nature Reserve.
Information
General Data
Area: 203.57 km²
Main town elevation: 95m
Main elevation: [to be completed]
Number of inhabitants: 93,465 (as of 31.01.2026)
Name in dialect: Lissandria (Piedmontese)
Name of inhabitants: Alexandrians
Patron Saint: Saint Baudolino (10 November)
Border municipalities: Alluvioni Piovera - Bosco Marengo - Castellazzo Bormida - Castelletto Monferrato - Frugarolo - Montecastello - Oviglio - Pecetto di Valenza - Pietra Marazzi - Quargnento - Salt - San Salvatore Monferrato - Solero - Tortona - Valenza
Province: Alessandria
Region of affiliation: Piedmont
Country of affiliation: Italy
Institutional site: https://www.comune.alessandria.en