Plain and Hills of Cuneo

The area covers the highest part of the Cuneo plains, furrowed by the Stura stream which flows from Cuneo to Saluzzo and Fossano, and includes the first slopes of the foothills of the Alpine valley. To the north and east the confines of the area seem to fade, to join with other plains with the same physical features, among which the Stura area stands out.

The territory's farming history has left numerous traces and in particular great farmsteads with the related interventions for farming activities (roads, canals), and cultivation of cereals, hemp, fruit and mulberry.
Fruit farming, situated in the north-western sector, is an important element of the landscape that covers the lands connecting the plain with the mountain slopes. A particular feature is the ongoing chestnut farming, especially for the production of the chestnut variety called "Our Lady's Chestnut." Today livestock breeding farms highly affect the territory, whereas the cultivation of corn still occupies a significant surface area, contributing to giving a sort of uniformity to the landscape and the agri-ecosystem.

The city of Cuneo is set in a particular position, at the top of a narrow highland between two fluvial valleys of the Gesso River and the Stura stream. It owes its foundation – towards the end of the 12th century – to the creation of a post at the crossroads of towns and passes to the north, the Liguria coastline and areas beyond the alps, and was for centuries the road network that led to the surrounding mountain passes: Carlino, Tenda, Sabbione, Finestre, Lombarda, Longa, Pirac, Maddalena, Soutran, Maurin, del Mulo, di Elva, S. Damiano, and Bernezzo.

Privileged points of observation identified in the PAYS.DOC “ Good practices for the landscape” created by a virtual observatory of the Mediterranean landscape.