Bra is a Cittaslow: a Network of Cities where living is Good

Good living means having the opportunity of enjoying solutions and services that allow citizens to live their town in an easy and pleasant way.

Bra, with a constantly increasing population of more than 29,000 inhabitants, is demographically the third town of the Province of Cuneo, at the centre of gravity of the Province's population, lying less than 50 kilometres from Turin. It is one of the major centres of Piedmontese Baroque Art, where the principal artists of the period created works of great cultural and religious significance.

Thanks to its location between the "food valley" of the Langhe and Roero, Bra is one of the most important Piedmontese centres of wine and gastronomy. In fact the "Cheese - the shape of milk", trade fair is held along the streets of Bra. This fair has become one of the principal world-wide showcases for quality cheese and dairy farming in general. The fortunate relationship between commerce and tourism which has involved Southern Piedmont since 1990 has led the economy of Bra to change direction and basing itself on a tertiary advance which links today's needs with the traditional values of Bra. Bra is now the home of the University of Gastronomic Sciences and hosts the international headquarters of Slow Food.

Bra is the city described in the novels of Giovanni Arpino, observer and commentator on today's society. Bra is a city to visit, to stroll through and, because of the richness of its many important activities, a city to live in.

Cittaslow looks for towns where men are still curious of the old times, towns rich of theatres, squares, cafes, workshops, restaurants and spiritual places, towns with untouched landscapes and charming craftsman where people are still able to recognize the slow course of the Seasons and their genuine products respecting tastes, health and spontaneous customs....

The main goal of cittaslow , was and still is today, to enlarge the philosophy of Slow Food to local communities and to government of towns, applying the concepts of ecogastronomy at practice of everyday life.

The Movement of cittaslow was born in 1999 through the Paolo Saturnini’s brilliant intuition, past Mayor of Greve in Chianti, a little town of Tuscany.

The new idea of considering the town itself and thinking of a different way of development, based on the improving of life quality, moved him to spread his thoughts all over our country. Fastly his ideals were endorsed by Mayors of towns of Bra ( Francesco Guida) , Orvieto ( Stefano Cimicchi) and Positano ( Domenico Marrone )as well as they met later the president of slow food Carlo Petrini’s support.

The movement has expanded to 100 towns and 10 countries all over the world since 1999, connecting administrators, citizens and Slow Food partners. He common goal is to have mutual experiences focusing on gourmet food, incoming, services qualities and on the environment.