Contini Tower: Immersed among the Moscato Bianco vineyards
The ancient “Torre dei Contini” of Canelli once marked the boundaries of the city. It is located in a panoramic point of the Santa Libera hamlet. The tower can be accessed freely along a small road immersed in the Moscato Bianco vineyards. From the tower, to the top of which you can climb a comfortable staircase, you can enjoy an enchanting panorama with a 360 degree view of the vineyards with the Alps as a backdrop on one side and the Ligurian Apennines on the other side. To get to the tower from different points of the hill, a pedestrian path with signs has been created. The place has been completely cleaned up.
Vineyard Landscapes of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato
Once the shrubs have been eliminated and the grass has been cut in the surrounding areas, it is used for walks and picnics with a view of the wine-growing landscapes of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato which, since 2014, the first among the prestigious wine-growing areas, have been a World Heritage Site and 50th UNESCO site in Italy. These are the places where the Alba writer Beppe Fenoglio set a passage from his novel “Il partigiano Johnny”.
A Romantic Journey: Exploring Peynet's Lovers route
In Canelli you can find “La via degli Innamorati”. The route, dedicated to Peynet’s Lovers, the protagonists of the famous drawings by the French artist Raymond Peynet, starts from Piazza San Tommaso and ends at the panoramic terrace of Costa Belvedere, the “Unesco Belvedere”.
The walk develops along the climb of the Sternia, a steep cobbled street that connects Piazza San Tommaso to the village of Villanuova, which has become an open-air art gallery with works by various artists inspired by the world of the illustrator Raymond Peynet who visited Canelli in 1983 and attended an exhibition organized by the Bocchino distillery and the screening of one of his animated films.
Peynet was particularly impressed by the beauty of the Sternia and decided to draw on a tile the Lovers, the famous characters – a violinist and a girl who listened to him – which he created in 1942.
The route offers suggestive panoramic points and is one of the symbolic places of the city of Canelli. At the top there is a panel where lovers can place a cork of wine, preferably Asti Spumante or Moscato d’Asti, with their names in the style of the famous love padlocks widespread in many large cities.
