Where we are

Bajo Dora
In the olden days it even had a castle which was burnt down during the war between the French and Spanish around 1640.
The local lords, at the time, were the Soleris from Ivrea, followed by the Della Rivas who lived in the gentile canton in Bajo Dora, today known as Via Mario Tognon (fallen partisan).
The belfry dates back to 1672, many people from Bajo have surnames of Spanish origin like Ferrera (de Ferreira in the Parish Archives), Raga (da Raga), Baldissero (de Baldisserio).
Several documents, above all carefully compiled maps, were lost in the move following the union between Bajo and Borgofranco due to a law was passed in 1928, an affront which the Bajolese have never accepted nor been able to cancel out, demanding, like other municipalities, to become independent after 1945.
However, there is still a certain leaning towards Rebellion not only because the Choir meeting place is in Via dei Ribelli 19, a inheritance linked to the fact that the street which runs towards the mountains was used by the partisans (called rebels, bandits or terrorists by the Fascists) to escape from German incursions, but also because of the old antifascist spirit which has long been inherent in the character of the Bajolese people.
Around the ‘20s fascists groups claimed victims and many were forced to escape to France to find shelter and work which was impossible for people not enrolled in the lists of the fascist regime. Bajo was known as ‘little Russia’ in the surrounding area, both for the above mentioned reasons and as a result of elections immediately after the war. Five people were killed between 1943/45, their names are on street corners and squares in the village but the militants actually numbered 35 as can be seen in collages of photographs.
On the fountain in Piazza Bredda, which was once called Piazza Olmo, as there is a secular tree towering over it where you can see a symbol of the hammer and sickle laid there by the partisans in 1945. Even during the twenty yearsof Fscist rule the Bajolese continued to keep up the traditions by placing the tree of liberty each year on the 1st May, a custom which the Bajolese Choir keeps alive on the feast AGNIR CANTAR CUN GNET (Come Sing With Us) which takes place on 30th April and finishes from exhaustion at the end of 1st May. You are invited, it is an opportunity to have a spontaneous party as it is the most disorganized party in the world.

Canavese
The Canavese was the first fertile and wooded plain met by travellers came down from the alpine passes in old times.
Woods, plains and hills remain today the setting of a land rich in arts, history and monuments ancient and modern.
The landscape of Canavese is varied and interesting: one can start from fertile plain of Chivasso, cross the morainic hill of La Serra which surrounds the glacial lakes of Candia and Ivrea and climb the valleys Chiusella, Sacra, Orco and Soana up te the summits of the Gran Paradiso. Everywhere one can see a close relationship between history, culture and environment.
Many famous men were born in Canavese or chose to live here.
The history and beauties of Canavese were the most fertile ground for their researches and artistic work.
The name a few: Costantino Nigra, politician and famous collector of folk songs; Massimo D'Azeglio, statesman and writer; Giuseppe Giacosa. brilliant writer on medieval history and customs, Alfredo D'Andrade. superb draftsman, architect and painter of poetic images of a rural Canavese bathed in the green of woods and meadows.
The long history of Canavese is told through rock engravings, roman remains, many castles and productions of modern architecture.
The castles, above all, remind one of the struggles among the feudal Lords, of King Arduino's dream of a united Italy, of the Tuchini's rebellions and of the nineteenth century uprisings. The castles of Agliè and Masino, in particular, are fine examples of the Piedmontese Baroque and a testimony to the most splendid period of the Court of Savoy, whose one-thousand years of uninterrupted history are the "special thing" of which Canavese and the whole Piedmont are rightly proud.
The history of human work in Canavese shows at first the ancient cultivation of hemp, then agriculture together with mining and quarrying carried out nineteenth century mills, and now modern high-technology production and very advanced research concentrated mainly on electronics and information science.
Besides all this, the cuisine, the vine-growing industry and the crafts of the Canavese deserve the attention of today's visitor wanting to combine tourism and culture and derive education as well as pleasure from his holidays. In this way the tourist can understand the magic of La Serra of Ivrea, "the high secluded place full of light'' as the poet Guido Gozzano called it, from where one can admire one of the best panoramas in Piedmont.
The Canavese, thanks to its traditions and culture, has always been involved in the major technical and organizational developments not only of the piedmontese but also of the Italian economy. After the initial industrial activities, which were mainly hemp weaving, iron ore extraction and the manufacture of rural implements, then came the development of mechanical industry and now there is an important presence in the electronics industry.
At the same time there was a major switch in the design and planning of factories thanks to the work of skilled architects and planners and even more to the intelligent farsightedness of Adriano Olivetti.
The new conception of the relationship between man and environment was applied also when erecting houses for workers. So the last twenty years have seen high-tech production become important in Canavese.

The Piedmont Region and the Turin Province
Piedmont Region (1991 pop 4,302.565 25,400 sq. km.), NW. Italy, bordering on France to the west and Switzerland to the north. Turin is the capital of the region, which is one of the richest in Italy. Piedmont is divided into the provinces of Alessandra, Asti, Biella, Cuneo, Novara, Turin and Vercelli (named after their capitals). The region is mostly mountainous and hilly with the Alps to the north and west and the Apennines to the south.
> In the higher parts of Piedmont, forest products and fruit are produced and cattle are raised. In the fertile valley of the upper Po River wheat and corn are grown. Piedmont is highly industrial, and its industries, which include products such as automobiles and trucks (mainly in Turin), textiles, leather goods, aluminium, chemicals, glass, wine and office machinery+ are powered in part by well-developed hydroelectric facilities and aided by an extensive transport network. There is also a substantial tourist industry and skiing is a popular activity.