Chierese and Poirino Highlands

The major part of the "Chierese and Altopiano di Poirino" areas can be traced to the Poirino Highlands, with the exception of the hilly strip between Chieri and Moriondo.

The Poirino highland is an area suspended for a few metres above the actual level of the plain dominated by cereal crop farming which confers a highly monotonous feature, covering a hilly territory which man had never thought of modifying, perhaps due to the modest fertility of the lands, also disadvantaged by the absence of running water.

Towards the south instead, the undulation of the terraces becomes more intense, and the morphology at some points, takes the shape of hills, with deep watersheds and reddish slopes where cereal crop farming is practiced alongside grasslands in the most hollow areas and also diffused strips of woods. To the west, close to Chieri, the territory undergoes a rapid transformation, with a strong settlement and construction works changing the rural landscape. Instead towards the east, the features are better conserved, with vineyards forming the main structure

In terms of towns of greater importance, Chieri was the town which historically had a greater impact on the surrounding territories, followed by Santena and Poirino.
In the highlands which are flat, the extreme north-western area of the Asti district shows a radial settlement structure, centred in the Villeneuve of Poirino.
The 12th century saw the creation of two important religious structures: the Cistercian abbey of Casanova and the provostship of Corveglia (close to Villanovan town of Asti). The 13th century saw an intense founding of new towns on the part of the urban municipalities. Towards the last decades of the Middle Ages instead, there was the building and renovation of a series of castles that were the forerunners of the process of reclamation and farming initiatives started up by the municipality of Chieri and some noble families of Asti.