Castagneto Po

The name is a chain of forms: Castanetum ad Padum, then Castagnetto until 1877, then Castagneto, and from 1913 with the Po attached again. The village sits on the Turin hill, south of the river, and for centuries it was not one settlement but a scatter of farmsteads and hamlets centred on San Genesio, where the monks of Fruttuaria built the church and perhaps kept a hostel for pilgrims walking from France to Rome.

In the winter of 1704 the defence line against the French marching on Turin ran through here. Two attacks were beaten off, and then the Savoy staff blew up the local fortress, badly damaging the village.