Casale Monferrato

Related Category: Italian Political Geography

(käsä´lā mōnfār-rä´tō) or Casale, city (1991 pop. 38,962), Piedmont, NW Italy, on the Po River. Manufactures include cement, electrical appliances, and farm machinery, and much wine is produced in the region. It became the capital of the marquisate of Montferrat in 1435 and was strongly fortified. In the mid-16th cent. the city came under Mantua, and in 1703 it passed to the house of Savoy. Of note are the Romanesque cathedral (12th cent.) and the citadel (15th cent., now a barracks).