L'Assedio di Canelli
For one weekend in June, Canelli's old town climbs back to 1613, the year it held off the Savoy siege — a costumed reenactment of markets, soldiers, music and street theatre through the historic borgo.
Why it's special
The whole hillside old town turns into a 17th-century borgo — hundreds in period costume, the staged contest between the Gonzaga and Savoy, a night fire show. It's one of Piedmont's great historical reenactments, and no museum display: a living town for two days.
Programme · 2026
- Wear good shoes — the borgo's up the hill and the action moves through steep lanes.
- Come in the evening: the staged contest and the fire show in Piazza San Leonardo are the best of it.
In 1613 Canelli held out against the Duke of Savoy's army, and every summer the town remembers it by climbing back into the 17th century.
For a weekend the steep old borgo above the modern town fills with market stalls, soldiers, musicians, street performers, farmers and nobles in period dress. Osterie pour the local wine, historic processions pass, and staged scenes play out — the contest between the Gonzaga and the Savoy, a mock market theft, a tug-of-war — building to an evening fire show in Piazza San Leonardo. It's one of Piedmont's most ambitious historical reenactments, and it doesn't hold you at arm's length: the whole quarter becomes the set.
The reenactment ties directly to the hilltop Castello di Canelli and the walled upper town — walk up through the borgo while it's in character. Dates shift year to year (a June weekend); check the village page and the sources for the current edition's programme.