The name comes from a Frankish personal name, Brando, meaning double-edged sword, with the diminutive suffix izzo. The first mention is from 1035, when Olderico Manfredi II gave the territory to the abbey of Fruttuaria; the village lies not far from the ancient Decimum, the posting station at the tenth milestone from Turin on the road to Pavia.
Brandizzo is a refounded village: in 1203 Ottone di Grifagno obtained permission to create a settlement between Chivasso and Curte Dulphia, failed, and had to ask the abbot of Fruttuaria to repopulate the territory. From the earliest phase the Madonnina survives, a small seventh-century church built partly with late Roman bricks.
What to see in Brandizzo
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
Near Brandizzo
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Places to see within 25 km
Outside Brandizzo, but an easy day trip away.