Nestled between two rivers, the Maira and the Mellea, in the 13th century Savigliano was one of the main free municipalities of the region. Agricultural, commercial and cultural centre, the city experienced its golden age between the 16th and 17th centuries, when it was nominated as the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, while in the meantime the "Saviglianese school" was established as one of the best expressions of the Baroque in Piedmont.

At the centre of the so-called Terre dei Savoia, the city has its beating heart in Piazza Santa Rosa, one of the best preserved examples of medieval square in Italy. Worth of mention are the imposing Torre Civica, the sixteenth-century triumphal arch and the monument to Santorre di Santa Rosa, noble patriot and revolutionary of the Italian Unification to whom the square is dedicated. Infused with the Saviglianese atmosphere, cafes, elegant bars and commercial businesses alternate under its arcades. A characteristic wrought iron aedicule also houses the city Ufficio Turistico.

Leaving behind the triumphal arch of Piazza Santa Rosa, you can reach the Chiesa collegiata di Sant'Andrea, with the fourteenth-century pictorial cycles of the chapel of San Nicola, among the oldest in the city. Further on, in the Jerusalem district, sits Palazzo Muratori Cravetta, a fine example of Mannerist architecture, and Palazzo Taffini d'Acceglio, now home to the Múses techno-sensorial museum.

The historic centre is also home to the evocative spaces of the Museo Civico Antonino Olmo and the Davide Calandra Gipsoteca, and the Monastero di Santa Monica, now the city's university centre. A few steps away is the nineteenth-century theatre dedicated to the violinists Maria and Teresa Milanollo, splendid in its neoclassical elegance. On the edge of the city, the Museo Ferroviario Piemontese celebrates the industrial vocation of the city: terminus of the stretch of railway that connects it to Turin in 1855, today it is the headquarters of Alstom, specialized in the production of high-speed trains.

A network of greenery then connects the historic centre of Savigliano to the bike paths on the banks of the Maira River, up to the surrounding countryside, with trekking and biking tourism itineraries that wind through rural landscapes and go up to the mountains of Monviso.