CHERASCO, a town of Italy, in the province of Cuneo and district of Mondovia, near the junction of the Stura and the Tanaro, 30 miles south-east of Turin, with which it is connected by railway. It is well built and is surrounded by walls. A canal from the Stura supplies it with water. The church of the Madonna del Popolo, which was completed in the 18th century, is worthy of notice; and there are two large triumphal arches and some fine mansions of the nobility. The principal manufacture is silk, and there is some trade in corn, wine, and truffles.

Cherasco {Clerascum, or Cairascutn) is only two miles from the site of the old Roman toλvn of Pollentia, where there are still remains of a theatre, an amphitheatre, a temple, and other buildings. In the Middle Ages it was one of the strongest fortresses of Northern Italy, and for a time it ranked as a free city. In 1631, it gave its name to a treaty between Spain, France, and Rome, in regard tothe duchies of Montferrat and Mantua; and in 1633, to the peace between France and Savoy. In 1801, its fortifications were dismantled by the French. Γop. 8886.