Bra Travel Guide

  Pollenzo
by JLBG
 
  • Pollenzo
      Pollenzo
    by JLBG
  • Unesco World Heritage list
      Unesco World Heritage list
    by JLBG
  • Piazza Vittorio-Emmanuele, Pollenzo
      Piazza Vittorio-Emmanuele, Pollenzo
    by JLBG
  • Where is the amphitheater ?
      Where is the amphitheater ?
    by JLBG
  • Where is the outer wall of the amphitheater ?
      Where is the outer wall of the...
    by JLBG
 

Explore Bra

Things to Do  

What is that ?

What is that ?, Bra

 JLBG Says:  This structure stands on the outskirts of Santa Vittoria d’Alba, 6 km from Bra, 8 km from Alba, 3 km from Pollenzo. It is in the middle of a grass plot enclosed by a neat fence. As the grid was open, I walked into it to have a closer look. The structure seems to date back... 

University of Gastronomic Sciences

University of Gastronomic Sciences, Bra

 JLBG Says:  The main building of the Neo-Gothic farming complex built by Charles-Albert is an imposing square building that was bought and restored in 1999 by Agenzia di Pollenzo S.p.A.Pollenzo is now the seat of the University of Gastronomic Sciences and of several gastronomy-related... 

Neo-Gothic Chiesa di san Vittore, Pollenzo

Neo-Gothic Chiesa di san Vittore, Pollenzo, Bra

 JLBG Says:  Chiesa di san Vittore (Saint Victor Church) was built in a Neo-Gothic style by architect Ernesto Melano. In the church, Carlo Bellosio painted the Martyrdom of Saint Victor. The delicately carved choir was borrowed from the Abbey of Staffarda where it was carved between 1520... 

Piazza Vittorio-Emmanuele, Pollenzo

Piazza Vittorio-Emmanuele, Pollenzo, Bra

 JLBG Says:  During the Middle Ages, the antique Pollentia was almost entirely destroyed and deserted. From 1762, Pollenzo belonged to the estates of the Dukes of Savoie. They were the first to be interested in unearthing the remains of the Ancient Romans past of Pollentia. Besides that,... 

A glimpse at the ancient structure

A glimpse at the ancient structure, Bra

 JLBG Says:  Inside the house, the ancient structures can be seen and sometimes have been put on display but all houses are private and I had not the opportunity to visit any.Outside, very little of the ancient structures can be seen as they have so intimately used for housing and «... 

Where is the outer wall of the amphitheater ?

Where is the outer wall of the amphitheater ?, Bra

 JLBG Says:  Houses around the gardens are amazingly arranged in a wide circle. The street follows the circle of the amphitheater and the houses on the left used the outer wall of the amphitheater as their basement while those on the right used the uppers rows of seats as their basement. 

Where is the amphitheater ?

Where is the amphitheater ?, Bra

 JLBG Says:  The ancient town of Pollentia on the left bank of the Tanaro is known today as Pollenzo. In the antiquity Pollentia stood at a cross road of military importance: on the road from Augusta Taurinorum (modern Turin) to the coast at Vada Sabatia (modern Vado Ligure, near... 

Residences of the Royal House of Savoy

Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, Bra

 JLBG Says:  The Residences of the Royal House of Savoy have been inscribed in 1967 on the Unesco World Heritage list with the following comment (quote):When Emmanuel-Philibert, Duke of Savoy, moved his capital to Turin in 1562, he began a vast series of building projects (continued by... 

Chiesa DOM et San Antonino Mart.

Chiesa DOM et San Antonino Mart., Bra

 JLBG Says:  Another church in the same street bears the inscription “DOM et San Antonino Mart.” (Saint Anthony martyr). I have not found any information on this church. It seems to be also in a baroque style but I do not know when it was built. 

Chiesa Santa Maria degli Angeli o dei Frati

Chiesa Santa Maria degli Angeli o dei Frati, Bra

 JLBG Says:  Chiesa Santa Maria degli Angeli o dei Frati (Church Saint Mary of the Angels or of the brothers) stands on Piazza XX Settembre (XX September Square). It is a baroque church with a curved front, built in 1742 in bricks. The architect was Bernardo Antonio Vittone. 

Chiesa Santa Chiara, the dome

Chiesa Santa Chiara, the dome, Bra

 JLBG Says:  I came back to see if from the right of the church the dome was better seen. It shows a little more, but not much. There were grids that did not allow to walk around the church and get closer to the dome. I suppose that if you have enough time (we had not), you can walk to... 

Chiesa Santa Chiara

Chiesa Santa Chiara, Bra

 JLBG Says:  Chiesa Santa Chiara stands on Via Barbacana (Barbacana Street), at the crossing with Via Craveri (Craveri Street). It is a Rococo church built on a project from the architect Antonio Vittone between 1742 and 1748 with an aerial dome. It is the most beautiful piece of... 

Hotels  

La Corte Albertina

 1 Opinions

Hotels  

Residence La locanda del Re: Dodgy proprietors spoils accomodation

Residence La locanda del Re: Dodgy proprietors spoils accomodation, Bra

 nurgle Says:  This place is a block of self-contained flats, which were nice enough, except that the guy who claimed to only work there (we found out later he was the manager), charged us heaps more than the advertised price. We had no choice but to pay him, but would prefer that this... 

Restaurants  

Slow Food: Slow Food
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3.5 out of 5 starsHelpfulness

JLBG 6088 reviews

This is not really a restaurant tip, it is more than that.

Slow Food is an international association, founded in Bra in 1986 by Carlo Petrini. It promotes food and wine culture, but also defends food and agricultural biodiversity worldwide.

It opposes the standardisation of taste, defends the need for consumer information, protects cultural identities tied to food and gastronomic traditions, safeguards foods and cultivation and processing techniques inherited from tradition and defend domestic and wild animal and vegetable species.

Slow Food boasts 83,000 members worldwide and offices (in order of creation) in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, the USA, France, Japan, and Great Britain.

In 2003 Slow Food created the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, an independent non-profit entity with the mission to organize and fund projects that defend our world’s heritage of agricultural biodiversity and gastronomic traditions.

More on Slow Food on their web site.

Written Nov 21, 2005

Website: http://www.slowfood.com/

Related to:
 Food and Dining
 Wine Tasting

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Tourist Traps  

Tourist Trap ? In one way, a kind of !
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JLBG 6088 reviews

On a site with 80% of native English speakers and the remaining 20% practicing English with more or less skills, I could not avoid to comment the name of the city (others would have done it, anyway !), even if, for Italians, that does not mean anything more than the name of a city.

Unique Suggestions: As everybody here knows, in English, bra stands for brassiere, a word that appeared in French in the 14th century for a woman's shirt in which was slipped on the arms, "bras" in French, hence the name.

In French, the name brassière is now used only for a baby's shirt.

English has borrowed it, but now, the word is mostly used in a shortened form to mean "an undergarment worn by woman to support the breast or give a desired contour to the bust" (Webster dictionary). I felt it would be interesting to know how different languages called this garment.

English, followed by Swedish use the word "bra", with the etymology given above.

In French, it is "soutien-gorge" (breast holder), which introduces the idea of holding the breast.

Italian do the same with "reggipetto" (breast holder) and more clearly with "reggiseno" (bosom holder).

Spanish keeps the idea of "holding" but with "sosten" (holder) does not say what it is holding ! But Spanish uses also the word "sujetador" (submitter) which contains the idea to bring under control, to overpower ! Wow !

Fun Alternatives: Several languages have borrowed the French word, most of the time shortened : "soutien" in Portuguese, "sutien" in Albanese and Rumanian, "σουτιεν" (soutiène) in Greek, "sutyen" in Turkish.

With "Büstenhalter", German too, holds the breast, but seems to use commonly the more discreet abbreviation "BH". Dutch has borrowed it under the latter form which has given "beha".

If I am correct, Icelandic, too, holds the breast with "brjóstahaldari".

I would not be surprised if the Polish "biustonosz" had the same meaning as well as "στηθόδεσμος" (stithodesmos) in Greek.

I have not been able to find the etymology of other words used in the following languages. Help, please !
"Grudnjak " in Serbian and in Croatian,
"prsluk " in Serbian,
"podprsenka " in Czeck,
"oprsnik " in Slovenian,
"Gjimbajtëse" in Albanian,
"rintaliivit" in Finnish,
"steun keel" in Dutch

Finally, at least based on those languages for which I have found the etymology, all languages but one, English, refer to the idea of "hold" or "control". English is the only one that does not give any clue on what the garment is designed for ! Why ? Any idea ?

I have used several dictionary both paper and on line and looked for the translation both of the English "bra" and of the French "soutien-gorge". One of them, obviously did not handle double words and did not understood the word "soutien-gorge". It asked me if I meant "storage (well !), stonework (well, well !), strength (hehe !), sortilege (haah !), stinging (??!!) or stinking (!!??), and even soutane (not really !) or synagogue (neither !)"…

To finish with, I would like to add (translated from French) a crosswords definition that was once given for this accessory : “supports the weak, restrains the strong and brings back the stray”!

Updated Jan 15, 2009

Related to:
 Women's Travel

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Off The Beaten Path  

Tintoria

Tintoria, Bra

 JLBG Says:  I took this photo of a "Tintoria" (Dry cleaner) because I felt that the design of the window was not common, with these plaster curls. Should that be considered as Rococo style ? I am not an expert, but I feel it is. 

Sculpted door in light chestnut wood.

Sculpted door in light chestnut wood., Bra

 JLBG Says:  This door seems to be modern and made in chestnut wood, which is much more often found around Bra than oak. However, it is also a very good wood, widely used for woodwork. It keeps well over the years and it is said that spiders do not nest on chestnut wood. 

Sculpted door in dark oak.

Sculpted door in dark oak., Bra

 JLBG Says:  As you can see from the previous pictures, what is the most striking in Bra was the great many sculpted wooden doors. I have tried to photograph those that were the most characteristic. The one on the first photo is a heavily carved oak door, which must correspond to a... 

House entrance

House entrance, Bra

 JLBG Says:  This photo shows a better woodwork. The door is not made of plain boards. The panels are adjusted and have some very simple and geometric carvings. The wood is of better quality but not outstanding, though. 

Unsophisticated old wooden doors

Unsophisticated old wooden doors, Bra

 JLBG Says:  The first photo shows an unsophisticated old wooden door, which is obviously very old. It was certainly not the entrance of a fancy house but may be to stables. It is made of plain horizontal boards of cheap wood with hand wrought iron nails.The second photo shows another... 

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