Moncalieri (Italian: [moŋkaˈljɛːri]; Piedmontese: Moncalé [mʊŋkaˈle] ⓘ) is a comune (municipality) of 56,134 inhabitants (31 January 2022) about 8 kilometres (5 mi) directly south of downtown Turin (to whose Metropolitan City it belongs), in Piedmont, Italy.The easy access to the Po River and the bridge (a Templar possession for a long time) that it commanded granted a certain flourishing to the city, which became a free comune and housed a number of monastic institutions.Close to the castle, the descending square of Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II was in the past the major centre for the Moncalieri activities.A small passage connects this square to the prestigious Real Collegio Carlo Alberto, school aimed for aristocratic descendants.Nowadays, the Collegio Carlo Alberto is managed by a joint initiative of the Compagnia di San Paolo and the University of Turin; their mission is to foster research and teaching in law, economics, finance and political science.