[citation needed][dubious – discuss] The Ligures living in this area of the Po river plain belonged specifically to the Taurini tribe.

The original settlement was most likely founded by them, being sited on a prominent hill (on which the church of San Giorgio currently stands) and growing to be the geographical focus of the city centre.

This was possibly under the command of Roman consul Caius Claudius Pulcrus, leading a military response to a rebellion the year before by the Ligures.

It would appear the Forum and the main Temple (most likely dedicated to the goddess Minerva) were located in the area where the cathedral and the piazza around it currently stand, with a wall around it (traces of which were excavated in the 1960s).

Roman historian Pliny the Elder referenced "Carreum quod Potentia cognominatur", in his Naturalis Historia (dated 50-60 AD), naming it within a list of fortified settlements which then abounded in the section of Cisalpine Gaul between the River Po and the Ligurian Apennines: the city was portrayed as a prosperous Roman walled city, surrounded by cultivated farmlands and scattered agricultural settlements.

The city underwent conversion to Christianity sometime between the 4th and 5th century, as recorded on a funeral slab dated from June 488 AD for a little girl called Genesia who died at the age of two.

[6] Following the death of Adelaide of Susa, Marchioness of Turin, many of the Piedmontese holdings of the counts of Savoy were lost by her heir Humbert II.

[7] In the political fragmentation which followed, the Piedmontese lands east of Turin were divided into the counties of Saluzzo, Biandrate and the March of Montferrat, which eventually allowed the cities of Chieri and Asti to flourish economically and declare independence from their respective liege bishops as free cities, supported by the House of Savoy who were interested in diminishing the power of the local feudal lords.

The work included a strengthening of the fortifications and tower atop the hill, now incorporated into the Church of San Giorgio which occupies the hilltop and overlooks the city.

[11] In 1169, Chieri and Asti signed a defensive treaty of mutual aid to defend themselves from the ambitions of the Counts of Biandrate and found themselves shortly after victorious in a war against them, restoring some of their rights and furthering their path towards independence.

[13] At the end of the century, the city allied with Testona to declare war on its ecclesiastical liege lord the Bishop of Turin, Arduino Valperga.

Many provisions were made in regards to the bridge of Testona (today at Moncalieri), which was of vital economical importance to all three cities, including its tolls, the roads leading to it and the guards to be provided.

[17] On 10 June of the same year, the city signed a treaty with Goffredo, Count of Biandrate, and his nephews for mutual defense against all enemies save for the Emperor and the Bishop.

[18] The clause is characteristic of the regulation of growth in the medieval period, where the founding of a city required imperial dispensation, fortifications were to be approved by liege lords, and the movement of people was an enormous loss of capital for the feudal system, although one that would prove irreversible as urban areas grew larger and more powerful over the coming centuries.

[20] In the course of the 13th century, the Republic of Chieri experienced a period of substantial prosperity, and at that time was comparable in splendor and importance to other Italian city-states such as Genoa, Asti and Pisa.

The 15th century brought Chieri a period of economic prosperity and a flourishing of the arts with, among other endeavours, the rebuilding of the Church of Santa Maria into its present form as the Duomo.

During this time the hill-top church of San Giorgio was also rebuilt into its current incarnation, and several works of Flemish art were brought into the area by rich city merchants.

Despite this, the remainder of the 17th century experienced a flourishing of artistic achievement, with the building of several churches and chapels in Baroque style such as Sant'Antonio Abate at Chieri, as well as numerous paintings and sculptures.

In 1871, a railroad link was constructed to the city in the form of the Chieri-Trofarello branch line, partly due to contributions from the municipality and from wealthy citizens.

The later years of the 20th century also witnessed the decline of textile industry in the city, as numerous factories were forced to close from competitive pressure from the cheaper manufacturing centres of the Indian subcontinent and the Far East.