Busca is today a town of about 10,000 inhabitants, consisting of a historic centre, enclosed in the space of the ancient walls, and numerous surrounding hamlets.
It is located in a good geographical position, at the foot of a morainic hill that surrounds it as an amphitheatre and that, sheltering it from the cold winds, gives it a mild climate appreciated since ancient times.
The town’s economy focuses on the tertiary sector, agriculture and some artisan activities. In the past centuries, until the Second World War, the silk industry was very flourishing in Busca, with a production of the highest quality, renowned and exported even to America.
Probably the place name, like many others with the suffix “sca” or “sco” (such as Venasca, Airasca, Brossasco), has a Celtic or Germanic origin. Busca could derive either from the Celtic “Buxilla” or from the Germanic “Busch”, “Büsche” or “Büschchen”: all names that indicate a territory covered by bushes, a grove.
The name appears for the first time in a document dated 6th December 1123.
From 2019, the municipality also includes the village of Valmala, previously autonomous.
MUST-SEES:
– the Roccolo castle, designed by Roberto d’Azeglio according to the landscape canons of the time,
in Gothic-Moorish style, which stands in the centre of a large park; it was first the residence of the d’Azeglio family, then of the Marquises of Villamarina
– the cathedral, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta, built after the demolition of the previous church whose ancient massive bell tower survives. The works began in 1717 under the direction of the famous architect Francesco Gallo from Mondovì and ended in 1728
– the church of the brotherhood of the Holy Trinity, called “la Rossa” (the red one), from the early seventeenth century
– the church of the Santissima Annunziata, called “la Bianca” (the white one), also built on a project by Francesco Gallo
– the chapel of Santo Stefano, with frescoes by the painters Biazaci from Busca
Further information
Altitude: 500 m
Hamlets: Attissano, Bianciotto, Bicocca, Bosco, Castelletto, Lemma, Madonna del Campanile, Morra San Bernardo, Morra San Giovanni, Roata Raffo, Sant’Alessio, San Barnaba, San Chiaffredo, San Giuseppe, San Martino, San Mauro, San Quintino, San Rocco, Santo Stefano, San Vitale
Patron saints: Saint Louis (first weekend of July)
Sport centres: soccer field and volleyball court (municipal sport facilities); bocce court; children’s playgrounds (Via Cavour)
Summer sports: hiking, mountain-biking, biking, riding
Fairs: May fair (last weekend of May), St. Louis’s fair (first Monday of July)
• Town Hall: Via Cavour 28, tel. +39 0171.948611; tourist office Casa Francotto, Piazza Regina Margherita, open on Sundays
• Post office: Via L. Einaudi, tel. +39 0171.934811
• Banks:
Banca di credito cooperativo di Caraglio, p.zza Savoia 1, tel. +39 0171.945554
Bper banca, via L. Cadorna 17, tel. +39 0171.946563
Cassa di risparmio di Savigliano, via R. D’Azeglio 20/24, tel. +39 0171.300870
U.B.I. banca, p.zza Savoia 9, tel. +39 0171.945292
Unicredit, via Umberto I 70, tel. +39 0171.072009
• ATM
• Chemist’s:
Farmacia S. Lorenzo. C.so Papa Giovanni XXIII 3, tel. +39 0171.945255
Farmacia Abrate, via Umberto I 114, tel. +39 0171.943923
• Tobacconist shops:
Tabaccheria Antilia, via Martiri della Libertà 7, tel. 0171.946355
Tabaccheria Delfino, via Umberto I 50, tel. 0171.945660
Rosso Viviuana, C.so Papa Giovanni XXIII 30, tel. 0171.944396
Becchio Maria Teresa, via Umberto I 52, tel. 0171.944683
Tabacchi, Corso Papa Giovanni XXIII 116
• Public transport: Consorzio Grandabus, Tel. +39 0175.478811, toll-free number 800.111.773, www.grandabus.it
• Market: Friday morning
Website: www.comune.busca.cn.it
E-mail: segreteria@comune.busca.cn.it