A municipality in the province of Alessandria, in the heart of the Monferrato area, bordering the province of Asti, the town is perched on a hill near the stream Grana. Famous for its location and the wealth of vegetation and its small groups of soft colored painted houses, that stand out clearly in the countryside, with its unique layout, almost artistic, which create a particularly attractive scenario. It is also well known for the production of a great Barbera and for a very popular and expected event, which takes place every Summer: the International Dance Festival, that features a strong participation of dancers from all over the World.
The village has medieval origins, although the area was already known in Roman times. Mentioned for the first time in a document dated 1164, it was subjected, for centuries, to the domain of several families of Lords before becoming a fief under the rule of the Aleramici. It then passed to the Paleologi and later to the accounts Callori, that maintained their dominion till the XIX century, ensuring a period of great prosperity and development to the whole area. The town, built around its castle and surrounded by a series of fortified walls, is divided, since the late Middle Ages, into districts, or cantons, division that was abolished in the XVI century. During the long period of wars of succession of Monferrato, Vignale was involved directly in the fighting and partially destroyed. To complete the negative period of the town's history, Vignale and its inhabitants suffered a plague epidemic in the late XVII century. At the beginning of the XVIII century the territory became part of the dominions of Savoy and shared the same fate and history.
Not to miss:
- the Church of San Bartolomeo, built between the XVIII and XIX centuries by the architect Magnocavallo. It presents a façade embellished with a portico. Inside are preserved frescoes by Morgari, a painting attributed to the school of Moncalvo, depicting St. Augustine and a valuable XVI century crucifix. Its location offers a spectacular panorama over the surrounding hills;
- the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows and the adjacent convent of the Servants of Mary, a Gothic-style building erected between the second half of the XV and early XVI centuries;
- the Church of the Purification;
- the church of Santa Maria;
- Palazzo Callori, built in the XV century and enlarged in the XVIII, it was the residence of the Lords of Vignale. Today it houses the Regional Wine Cellar of the Monferrato area;
- Porta Urbica, the medieval City gate;
- the House of the Serpentello;
- the Civic Tower.