PRINCIPALITY OF LUCEDIO

Known as the Principality of Lucedio since 1875, the ancient Abbey, founded in 1123 by the Cistercian monks at the behest of the Marquis of Monferrato who granted them various lands, experienced numerous changes of ownership over the centuries that weighed heavily on its fragmentation process, which became definitive in 1818, when Prince Camillo Borghese, Napoleon’s brother-in-law and then Governor General of Piedmont, divided the property into three parts in order to sell it.

Lucedio is considered the cradle of Italian rice. The Grange territory developed from here, farms disseminated over a large agricultural area obtained by clearing and levelling the land. The geographical position along the Via Francigena was also strategic in the past for the socio-economic development of the abbey, which became a flourishing centre of political power. As many as three Pontiffs visited it in those centuries.

Now the abbey, located just a few kilometres from the village of Trino Vercellese, is a modern farm that can be visited, and which has preserved its characteristic medieval rooms. Beyond the fortified walls, you can still admire the abbey church, the unique bell tower, which is octagonal at the top but square at the base, and the four-sided chapter house.