Via Principe Tommaso
A MEDIEVAL STREET: THE STREET THAT LINKS THE SUBURB AND THE CASTLE

Via Principe Tommaso, the first section of which is porticoed, represents the main street of the town of Agliè, which unwinds over the entire length of the town, in a direction that is not perfectly straight (typical of suburbs of medieval origin) The Castle rises up at the southern end of the street.

A series of secondary roads depart from the main axis, they are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the main axis, according to the so-called “comb” town-planning layout.

The road axis has represented the natural connection between the Town and the Castle since the late middle ages, an era to which some of the buildings facing onto the road date back.

The buildings, which are generally two or three floors over the ground, have a portico on the ground floor sustained by solid “shoe” profile pillars.

Wooden ceilings originally covered the porticoes but they have now been partially replaced by cross vaults.

The wooden ceilings are still present in the section looking onto Piazza Martino, where moulded shelves of large dimensions support the solid beams.

Traces of wooden ceilings emerging from the brick structure have been discovered under the layer of plaster. They are still present in the building looking on to the Municipal Building, where large traces of the brickwork with the typical medieval herringbone formation were also uncovered.

The porticoed buildings along via Principe Tommaso essentially date back to the years between 1580 and 1650 with subsequent transformations that have made their current use possible.

They represent a building type, which was widespread in Canavese and in general throughout the flatland territory around the capital city.

The buildings are a semi-rural type, for a single family. On the ground floor, under the porticoes, there were shops where the weekly market was held on Wednesdays until the 1950’s.

The recent restoration of the main road, which was carried out in 2004, led to the repair of the paving in its traditional lines with the two strips made of slabs of stone and the remaining surface made of blocks of porphyry.

The flooring of the porticoes was also repaired in a similar manner, with the use of simple slabs of stone.