Villar Dora, Italy (Piedmont): What to See, Eat & Stay

The town used to be Villar d'Almese, and the name would come from Villa ad Mensam, after the Latin name of the Messa torrent: a small farming settlement grown in the early Middle Ages around a stronghold, where the castle would later rise. It has only been Villar Dora since 1885.

What we know of the plagues that passed through here comes mostly from the tax exemptions granted on those occasions: relief was given after wars and after hailstorms too. In 1928 Mussolini's government merged Villar Dora with Almese and Rivera into a single comune; autonomy came back in 1955, by a decree signed by Luigi Einaudi.

The Villar Dora guide

Where to stay

Compare hotels, B&Bs and holiday homes on Booking.com for your dates.

Events & festivals 1

Next up: Saint Roch, patron linked to the legend of the French pilgrim, Monday 16 August

Getting there

Nearest airport: Torino Caselle, 23 km away

🎉 Festivals and feasts in Villar Dora 1

Patron saint festival In 304 days

Saint Roch, patron linked to the legend of the French pilgrim

📅 Every year, from 15 to 17 August, with the band distributing «sonnets» in Piedmontese

Villar Dora celebrates Saint Roch, together with Saints Vincent and Anastasius, on 16 August: legend holds that in the Middle Ages Saint Roch, a pilgrim of French origin, passed through the Susa Valley on his way to Rome. The feast, the most important of the year, anciently had an apotropaic meaning against recurring plague epidemics.

What's around

Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.