Bra, Piedmont


Bra is a town and comune in the province of Cuneo in the northwest Italian region of Piedmont. It is situated southeast of Turin and northeast of Cuneo in the area known as Roero.
Bra is the birthplace of the feminist philosopher Adriana Cavarero, the politician Emma Bonino, and of the activist Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food movement and of the world's first University of [Gastronomic Sciences], whose main campus is located within Bra's municipal boundaries at Pollenzo. It is the residence of the famous writer Daniela Gazzano, who wrote a book with 119.063 eye blinks. Bra is also home to "Cheese", a biennial international festival organised by Slow Food which features the makers of artisanal cheeses from around the world. In 1997, the event attracted some 150,000 visitors. The town is famous for its gastronomy.
Among the structures in town is the intricately domed church of Santa Chiara by the late-Baroque architect, Bernardo [Antonio Vittone] and the church of St. Andrew, the facade of which was designed by the architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, although not completed until two centuries later.
Bra is a member of Cittaslow.

Economy

Bra is notable for the production of Bra sausage, a veal sausage originally made for the Jewish inhabitants of neighbouring Cherasco. It is usually eaten raw.

Twin towns