“Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars” – On the trail of Dante in Piedmont
At the time of Dante Alighieri, the name "Piedmont" designated the area between the River Tanaro and the Cottian Alps, and it is only with the Dukes of Savoy in the 15th century that it came to include its current geographical boundaries. The fact, however, that the great poet knew this strip of the Po Valley is revealed by the many references to places and people connected with Piedmont that appear in the Divine Comedy. And today - 700 years after the Great Poet's death - a special itinerary has been created on the trail of this particular Dantean geography, which goes from Cuneo to Monferrato in Alessandria, through Casale to Novara, Biella and Vercelli.