The town hall of Sant'Ambrogio was not born a town hall: it was the villa of the owners of a knitwear mill, built in 1871 and named after the family. The municipality moved in during 1957, after changing address twice in half a century: first the medieval tower, then a building they called the new town hall, and finally this house.
What to see
You see at once that it is a villa and not a public building: the layout is that of a late nineteenth-century middle-class residence, with the garden around it and the windows arranged for comfort, not for show. It is a document of the time when the textile industry gave work to whole villages in the Val di Susa.
It stands in piazza XXV Aprile, which was remade a few years ago: three quarters of the space is now taken up by flowerbeds, benches and a chessboard pattern into which eight water jets have been set, lit in the evening. A square to cross has become a square to stay in.
Visiting
The building is the seat of the municipality, so you go in during office hours and for what you need; the square in front, on the other hand, is always open. A quarter of an hour.
Our editors' tip
Pass by in the evening, when the jets are lit. It is the best way to understand a choice made in many Italian towns: take the main square, take it away from the cars and give it back to feet. The result is measured by one thing only, which is how many people are sitting down.