Bra, Piedmont

Bra (Italian pronunciation: [bra]; Br'a in Piemontese) is a town and comune in the province of Cuneo in the northwest Italian region of Piedmont. It is situated 50 kilometres (31 miles) south of Turin and 50 km (31 mi) northeast of Cuneo in the area known as Roero.

Bra is the birthplace of the feminist philosopher Adriana Cavarero, politician Emma Bonino, and of the activist Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food movement and of the world’s first University of Gastronomic Sciences, whose main campus is located within Bra’s municipal boundaries at Pollenzo. Bra is also home to "Cheese," a biennial international festival organised by Slow Food which features the makers of artisanal cheeses from across the world. In 1997 the event attracted some 150,000 visitors.

Celebrity visits

Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond stayed the night in Bra whilst filming Top Gear - The Perfect Road Trip.

Twin towns

Spreitenbach, Switzerland

Weil der Stadt, Germany

San Sosti, Italy

Corral de Bustos, Argentina

Bra

A bra (or brassiere /brəˈzɪər/) is a form-fitting undergarment designed to support a woman's breasts. Swimsuits, camisoles, tank tops and backless dresses may be made with built-in support.

Bras are complex garments made of many parts. Most come in 36 sizes; standards and methods of measurement vary widely and up to 85 per cent of women may be wearing the wrong size. The world's best-selling bra, as of 2005, was said to be the full-cup "Doreen" by Triumph International in size 36D.

Background

Etymology

The term brassiere was used by the Evening Herald in Syracuse, New York, in 1893. It gained wider acceptance in 1904 when the DeBevoise Company used it in their advertising copy—although the word is actually Norman French for a child's undershirt. The French refer to it as a soutien-gorge (literally, "breast-supporter"). It and other early versions resembled a camisole stiffened with boning.

Vogue magazine first used the term brassiere in 1907, and by 1911 the word had made its way into the Oxford English Dictionary. On 3 November 1914, the newly formed U.S. patent category for "brassieres" was inaugurated with the first patent issued to Mary Phelps Jacob. In the 1930s brassiere was gradually shortened to bra.

Brač

Brač (pronounced [brâːtʃ]; local Chakavian: Broč, pronounced [broːtʃ]; Latin: Bretia, Brattia; Italian: Brazza) is an island in the Adriatic Sea within Croatia, with an area of 396 square kilometres (153 sq mi), making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Brač Channel, which is 5 to 13 km (3 to 8 mi) wide. The island's tallest peak, Vidova gora, or Mount St. Vid, stands at 780 m, making it the highest island point in the Adriatic. The island has a population of 13,956, living in numerous settlements, ranging from the main town Supetar, with more than 3,300 inhabitants, to Murvica, where less than two dozen people live. Bol Airport on Brač is the largest airport of all islands surrounding Split.

History

Archaeological findings date the existence of human communities on the island back to the palaeolithic (in the Kopačina cave between Supetar and Donji Humac). Nevertheless, there are no traces of human habitation from the neolithic. In the Bronze Age and Iron Age, Illyrian tribes populated the inner parts of the island. Numerous villages existed at that time (but none of them survived).

Bra cheese

The Italian cheese Bra originates from the town of Bra in Cuneo in the region of Piemonte.

Production of Bra may take place all year, but it may only legally take place within the province of Cuneo, however, aging may also take place in Villafranca, in Turin. The cheese may use either unpasteurized or pasteurized milk, often entirely cow's milk, but goat's or sheep's milk may be added in small amounts. It may be served as a soft or hard cheese, depending on the length of aging, from at least forty five days for soft cheese, from six months for hard cheese.

Bra has PDO status under European Law.

References