Villanova Monferrato is a comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

(municipality) in the Province of Alessandria

Province of Alessandria

The Province of Alessandria is an Italian province, with a population of some 430,000, which forms the southeastern part of the region of Piedmont. The provincial capital is the city of Alessandria....

 in the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region Piedmont

Piedmont

Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...

, located about 60 km east of Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

 and about 30 km northwest of Alessandria

Alessandria

-Monuments:* The Citadel * The church of Santa Maria di Castello * The church of Santa Maria del Carmine * Palazzo Ghilini * Università del Piemonte Orientale-Museums:* The Marengo Battle Museum...

 and about 17 km south of Vercelli

Vercelli

Vercelli is a city and comune of about 47,000 inhabitants in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around the year 600 BC.The city is situated on the river Sesia in the plain of the river...

. Located in the plain to the left of the Po

Po

-Places:* Po , a major Italian river* Pô , the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Italy* Potha, the name of two villages in Pakistan* Po, Wiang Kaen, a village in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand...

, it the most northerly comune in the province, and borders on the comuni of Caresana

Caresana

Caresana is a comune in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 70 km northeast of Turin and about 13 km southeast of Vercelli...

, Motta de' Conti

Motta de' Conti

Motta de' Conti is a comune in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 70 km east of Turin and about 15 km southeast of Vercelli...

, Rive

Rive (VC)

Rive is a comune in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 60 km northeast of Turin and about 11 km south of Vercelli. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 426 and an area of 9.5 km²....

, and Stroppiana

Stroppiana

Stroppiana is a comune in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 60 km northeast of Turin and about 10 km southeast of Vercelli...

 in the Vercelli

Province of Vercelli

Vercelli is a province in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. Its capital is Vercelli., it has an area of 2,088 km², and a total population of 176,829...

, as well as those of Balzola

Balzola

Balzola is a comune in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 60 km east of Turin and about 35 km northwest of Alessandria....

 and Casale Monferrato

Casale Monferrato

Casale Monferrato, population 36,058, is a town and comune in the Piedmont region of north-west Italy, part of the province of Alessandria. It is situated about 60 km east of Turin on the right bank of the Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montferrato hills. Beyond the river lies the...

 in the Province of Alessandria.

Notable buildings include the 19th century parish church of Sant'Emiliano, the oratory of the confraternity of San Michele, and the town hall which contains a painting by Pier Francesco Guala

Pier Francesco Guala

Pier Francesco Guala , also known as Pierfrancesco and Pietro Francesco, was an eighteenth-century Italian painter active for the most part in the region of his place of birth, Casale Monferrato....

 depicting the Virgin and Child and the saints Emilian and Bernardino of Siena

Bernardino of Siena

Saint Bernardino of Siena, O.F.M., was an Italian priest, Franciscan missionary, and is a Catholic saint.-Early life:...

.