The Monday market in La Morra

La Morra‘s small market is held every Monday morning in piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. Up until the seventies it was held at the portico where the town’s Tourist Office is now located.

The pediment wing that covers part of the market is decorated by a rather large fresco, depicting the goddess Juno and the god Mercury and in the background we can see the La Morra hill. This excellent quality work of art was created in 1939 by the local painter and decorator Giovanni Savio.

This market is definitely quite impressive for tourists, who admire it while having breakfast in the square’s small bar or in the adjacent park, after their early morning purchases at food stands.

The cheese stand

The stalls

There are roughly fifteen stalls in this market including a rotisserie, a renowned fish stand and stalls with cheeses, textiles, household products and the inevitable and crowded display of local farmers’ crates of fruit and vegetables.

Worth mentioning is the well-stocked stall that sells farm tools, chock full of spare parts and every type of useful tool for housework and gardening.

Even though the market isn’t particularly rich or picturesque, it embodies the classic idea of a town’s small meeting place.

It‘s a captivating experience for foreign tourists to see first-hand this little slice of Langa: to mingle with the local people and observe them as they discuss things in their dialect, while sitting on benches or under the morning’s first sun rays in the shade of the small wing deck.

There is also another smaller farmers and artisans market that has six stands and takes place every Saturday and Sunday in Piazza Castello, from morning till evening.

Photo credits: Federico Carpino