Archaeological remains found in the centre of Pinerolo in the early 1970s testify the human presence in the area in prehistoric times.[1] Remains of the Romannecropolis of Dama Rossa, found during works for the Pinerolo–Turin highway in 2003, show that the area at the time was the seat of agricultural activities.[2]
The toponym of Pinerolo appears only in the Middle Ages, in an imperial diplom dating from 981, by which Otto II confirmed its possession, within the March of Turin, to the bishops of Turin. The town of Pinerolo was one of the main crossroads in Italy, and was therefore one of the principal fortresses of the dukes of Savoy. Its military importance was the origin of the well-known military school that still exists today. The fortress of Fenestrelle is nearby. Later, Pinerolo was ruled by the abbot nullius of Pinerolo, who ran the abbey of Abbadia Alpina, even after the city had established itself as a municipality in 1247 under the government of Thomas II of Savoy.
From 1235, Amadeus IV of Savoy exercised over the town a kind of protectorate, which became absolute in 1243, and was continued thereafter by either the House of Savoy, or its cadet branch, the House of Savoy-Acaia.
When French troops invaded Piedmont in 1536, Pinerolo was conquered; it remained under French control until 1574. It fell again to France in 1631 with the Treaty of Cherasco.
France agreed to hand Pinerolo back to the House of Savoy under the Treaty of Turin in 1696, with the conditions that its stronghold's fortifications be demolished and that Savoy withdraw from the League of Augsburg against Louis XIV.
Economy
The economy of the Waldensian Valleys (right slope of Val Chisone, Valle Germanasca and Val Pellice) and of the plain between these valleys and the Po river course revolves around Pinerolo.
Several industries have their base in this area, particularly the mechanical, paper making, chemical and textile industries, and also absorb manpower from the nearby population centers.
The leading companies are Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (formerly Corcos), which produces seals for rotating shafts and valves sterns, Raspini, a meat processing company, TN Italy (formerly NN, Inc.), which manufactures ball bearings, the Trombini Group (formerly Annovati), which supplies the furniture industry with chipboard, and PMT Italia, which supplies the pulp and paper industry with paper machines. Moreover, Pinerolo is the trade centre of the surrounding mountain area.
The agriculture and the breeding of the livestock are conducted with advanced techniques. Pinerolo is the centre of the community called Comunità Montana Pinerolese Pedemontano, and the reference city for three valleys: Val Chisone, Val Pellice[it] and Val Lemina[it].
Pinerolo is famous for being the house city of the first society of mutual help, founded in 1848. Today, it is still active and also hosts a museum, the Museo Storico del Mutuo Soccorso with historic archives and a library. Health assistance is guaranteed by the Civil Hospital of Pinerolo Ospedale E. Agnelli and by a network of public and private health assistance centres. The Public assistance is inserted in the bigger frame of the Local Sanitary Company (or Azienda Sanitaria Locale ASL TO3).
Main sights
Pinerolo Cathedral: 9th-century Roman Catholic church with a Romanesque bell tower and a Gothic façade (restored after the 1808 earthquake)[3]
David Llewellyn Snellgrove (29 June 1920 - 25 March 2016), a British Tibetologist noted for his pioneering work on Buddhism in Tibet as well as his many travelogues.
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