Bra historical timeline

History

Bra's history has two chapters that matter: an 18th-century Baroque town, and a late 20th-century idea that travelled.

17th century — Gian Lorenzo Bernini designs the façade of Sant'Andrea. It is the most distinguished architectural commission the town ever receives.
18th century — the late-Baroque architect Bernardo Antonio Vittone builds Santa Chiara, with the intricate dome that is the best single piece of architecture in Bra. The historic centre takes the form it still has.
19th century — Bernini's façade for Sant'Andrea is finally completed, two centuries after it was drawn.
1986 — Slow Food is founded in Italy, by Carlo Petrini, who is from Bra. Its campaign is for the right to pleasure and to food that is good, clean and fair.
1997 — Cheese, Slow Food's biennial international festival of artisan cheesemakers, draws some 150,000 visitors to Bra.
2004 — Slow Food co-founds the University of Gastronomic Sciences at Pollenzo, within Bra's municipal boundaries, together with the Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna regions. It is the first university of its kind in the world.
22 June 2014 — the vineyard landscape immediately east of Bra is inscribed by UNESCO as the Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato.
1 January 2021 — the town has 29,466 residents across 59.53 km².
2026 — the Zizzola hosts Ricordé, a photographic exhibition drawing on over 30,000 historical photographs of the town, free to enter.

Verified against Wikipedia, October 2026.

Sources & verification Covers the sourced claims on this page.

Checked against Wikipedia — Santa Chiara is an intricately domed church by the late-Baroque architect Bernardo Antonio Vittone, and the facade of St Andrew's was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini but not completed until two centuries later., Carlo Petrini, a native of Bra, founded the Slow Food movement and the world's first University of Gastronomic Sciences, whose main campus is at Pollenzo within Bra's municipal boundaries., Cheese is a biennial international festival organised by Slow Food in Bra featuring makers of artisanal cheeses from around the world; in 1997 it attracted some 150,000 visitors., The Langhe were inscribed by UNESCO on 22 June 2014 within the Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato, as three components -- the Langa of Barolo, Grinzane Cavour Castle, and the Hills of Barbaresco., Bra has 29,466 residents across 59.53 square kilometres, at an elevation of 285 metres, with Pollenzo a frazione inside its boundaries. (October 2026).
Checked against Slow Food Italia — Slow Food was founded in Italy in 1986 and campaigns for the right to pleasure and to food that is good, clean and fair., Slow Food co-founded the Universita di Scienze Gastronomiche at Pollenzo in 2004 with the Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna regions, and is headquartered at the Agenzia complex there. (October 2026).