Province of Alessandria

Province of Alessandria
Province
Location of the Province of Alessandria within Italy
Country	Italy
Region	Piedmont
Capital(s)	Alessandria
Comuni	190
Government
• President	Paolo Filippi
Area
• Total	3,560 km2 (1,370 sq mi)
Population  (2005)
• Total	429,080
• Density	120/km2 (310/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	15010-15013, 15015-15018, 15020-15036, 15038-15046, 15048-15053, 15055-15079, 15100
Telephone prefix	010, 019, 0131, 0141, 0142, 0143, 0144
Vehicle registration	AL
ISTAT	06

The Province of Alessandria (Italian: Provincia di Alessandria) is an Italian province, with a population of some 430,000, which forms the southeastern part of the region of Piedmont. The provincial capital is the city of Alessandria.

With an area of 3,560 square kilometres (1,370 sq mi) it is the third largest province of Piedmont after those of Cuneo and Turin. To the north it borders on the Province of Vercelli and to the west on the provinces of Turin and Asti. It shares its southern border with Liguria (provinces of Savona and Genoa). Its south-east corner touches the Province of Piacenza in Emilia Romagna, while to the east it borders on the Lombard Province of Pavia.

History

The province was created by the Royal Decree n. 3702 of 23 October 1859, the Legge Rattazzi, as a union of five of the six provinces which had formed the Division of Alessandria (the provinces of Alessandria, Acqui, Asti, Casale and Tortona) plus the Province of Novi which had formed part of the Division of Genoa. In 1935 the area of Asti was established as the separate Province of Asti.

Communes

There are 190 communes in the province (source: Italian institute of statistics (Istat), see this link). The main communes by population are the following:

Rank	City	Population	Area (km2)	Density (inhabitants/km2)	Altitude (mslm)
1st	Alessandria	94191	203.97	461.8	95
2nd	Casale Monferrato	36039	86.32	417.5	116
3rd	Novi Ligure	28581	54.22	527.1	197
4th	Tortona	27476	99.29	276.7	122
5th	Acqui Terme	20426	33.42	611.2	156
6th	Valenza	20282	50.05	405.2	125
7th	Ovada	11912	35.33	337.2	186
8th	Serravalle Scrivia	6445	16.02	402.3	225
9th	Arquata Scrivia	6260	30.36	206.2	248
10th	Castelnuovo Scrivia	5473	45.42	120.5	85

Map

Culture

Sacro Monte di Crea

Sacro Monte di Crea
Paradise Chapel

The Sacred Mountain of Crea (Italian: Sacro Monte di Crea) is a Roman Catholic Devotional Complex in the comune of Serralunga di Crea (Montferrat), near Alessandria. It is one of the nine Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, included in UNESCO World Heritage list.
Its construction was begun in 1589, around a former Sanctuary of St. Mary whose creation is traditionally attributed to Saint Eusebius of Vercelli around 350 AD.

See also

• Piemonte (wine)

External links

• Media related to Province of Alessandria at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Official web site for European Sacred Mounts
• MonferratoArte Template:It icon A historical and bibliographical directory of artists active in the extra-urban Churches of the Diocese of Casale Monferrato.
• Laws and Statutes of the Carpeneto commune, 15th century, Center for Digital Initiatives, University of Vermont Libraries