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Photo (c)
emmedibi33
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Alessandria
Alessandria, chief town of Province, is situated in the
south-oriental shred of the Piedmont, at the confluence of
the rivers Bormida and Tanaro and is in the center of the
firm triangle composed by Milan, Turin and Genoa. It is land
of castles, villas and ancient noble abodes.
The history of Alessandria
The date of foundation goes back to 1168, when the inhabitants of the
villages of Rovereto, Marengo, Bergoglio, Gamondio, Solero, Foro,
Oviglio and Quargnento were reunited to build a town called Alessandria in homage of Pope Alexander III.
In the 1171 the new town was integrant part of the Guelph
drawing up and the emperor Federico I Barbarossa, in his fifth
invasion in Italy, encircled it of siege for various months
between the 1174 and 1175, before allowing a truce. In the
1183 Alessandria had an official recognition, but had to accept,
with the imperial power, the imposition of tolls and gratuities
and the new name of "Casarea".
Big importance in the life of Alessandria during the medieval
epoch recovered the presence of the religious movement of the
Umiliati that, begin from XII century had an important role in
the development of the activity of working of the wool (in
Lumelli road n.13/17 and still can be visited the Tinaio degli
Umiliati, that remainder of the imposing monastic structure of
the Umiliati of San Giovanni del Cappuccio, one of the
Alessandrian center of the order.
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The underground room, recently
restored, entertained one of the monastic workrooms).
During the thirteenth century Alessandria engaged in a number of
wars originated by territorial disputes with the marquis of
Monferrato and the city of Asti, and experienced a period of
civil strife between Guelph and Ghibelline families. The
establishment of a Chamber of the Elders and a Council of Sages
strengthened the city's internal political structures;
meanwhile, the rising bourgeoisie of artisans and craftsmen
consolidated its power at the expense of the feudal nobility.
Towards the end of the thirteenth century Alessandria was
subjected to Charles of Anjou and, later, to Guglielmo VII of
Monferrato; in 1316, finally, the leaders of the Guelph and
Ghibelline factions of Alessandria submitted to Matteo Visconti, conferring to
the powerful Milanese family the domain over their city.
Under
the rule of the Visconti, Alessandria reorganized its political
and economical institutions, but became involved in the
antagonism between the Milanese dukes and the major Italian and
European powers of the time: 1391 two citizens of Alessandria,
Iacopo dal Verme to victory over the French troops of Kings
Charles VI; in memory of the victory over the troops of earl of
Armagnac on July 25 1391, day of Saint James was erected the
Church of Saint James of the Victory, placed in the homonymous
street.
In 1404 Alessandria was invaded by the military commander Facino
Cane from Casale, who got hold of a significant part of the
Visconti's possessions.
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Only after Facino's death the Milanese
family could regain its territories by arranging a wedding
between Filippo Maria Visconti and the widow of Facino, Beatrice
di Tenda. After the death of Filippo Maria in 1477, the
signiory of the Visconti came to a close, and Alessandria
passed under the rule of Francesco Sforza.
Towards the end of
the fourteenth century, the decline of the Sforza seignory was
accompanied by a bloody upsurge in warfare: Alessandria was
sacked by French troops in 1499, occupied by the army of
Massimiliano Sforza in 1512, and again invaded by the French in
1522.
Caught up in the wars between France and Spain, in 1525
Alessandria became part of Charles V's empire. The only Spanish
building left in Alessandria, this church was built by Governor Matheo de Otanez: in the niche overlooking the entrance is
decorated by a fresco of the Madonna di Monserrato; the black
Madonna over the shrine is the work of a seventeenth-century
Spanish artist.
The political framework of the Spanish
government remained in force up to the end of the seventeenth
century; meanwhile, Alessandria acquired growing importance both
as the fulcrum of interchange among the cities of Genoa, Tortona
and Pavia, and as a military stronghold. During the eighteenth
century Alessandria became an important stronghold for the
defense of Monferrato.
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Vicolo Erba -
Photo (c)
emmedibi33
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The Savoy kings designed an impressive
system of fortifications, which required the demolition of the
ancient district of Bergoglio and the construction of a powerful
hexagonal Citadel designed by Ignazio Bertola: the
Citadel, with its massive stra-shape structure is an
outstanding example of European eighteenth-century military
architecture. After the demolition of the ancient district of
Bergoglio, the construction of the new fortress began in 1728
and continued in the second half of the century. In 1821, the
Citadel was one of the cardinal pints of the liberal
insurrection. On the other hand, the new fortifications played
an important role in eighteenth-century warfare, and in
particular during the Austrian war of succession, when the House
of Savoy entered into an alliance with the Austrians in order to
oppose the French-Spanish supremacy.
Thanks to a number of
administrative and political reforms, the House of Savoy was
able to exercise safer and more rational control over the
territory of Alessandria: local governments were given new rules, and new
authorities such as a land registry office and a Royal Council
of Justice were established. The second half of the eighteenth
century was a period of crucial changes in Alessandria's urban
plan, thanks to the construction of new government buildings
such as the town hall, the Civic Theatre, the trade fair halls
and the Hospital complex; the city's religious architecture (
Church of Saint Alexander and Saint Charles, the Church of Saint Giovannino) underwent significant changes as well.
At the hub of a wide network of trade routes between the regions
of Lombardy and Liguria, Alessandria flourished and expanded:
its population grew remarkably over the previous century,
reaching 15.000 people.
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After being defeated by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1796, Vittorio
Amedeo III signed the armistice of Cherasco and ceded to the
French part of his territories: Savoy, the city of Nice, and the
fortresses of Cuneo, Tortona, and Alessandria.
Bonaparte
returned after the Battle of Marengo (at which the city has
dedicated a Museum) but fifteen years later of French government
ended in 1814 when the city was seized by the Austrian army.
The industrialization of Alessandria, now become a provincial
capital, began in the 1870s, shortly after the proclamation of
the Kingdom of Italy, and dominated the city's economic life up
to the end of the nineteenth century.
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The hat factory owned by Giuseppe Borsalino quickly became the
leading concern: the number of its employees rose to 2.000 in
1910.
In the last two decades of the nineteenth century Alessandria
underwent a significant reconstruction of its urban plan, under
the direction of Ludovico Straneo: as the city expanded westwards,
crumbling neighborhoods were knocked down, the ancient walls
were dismantled, the network of main road was greatly developed;
of this period the realization of Garibaldi square, a wide
spectacular space between the town and the railway station
gardens.
The ancient mediaeval town plan, extensively transformed during
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was modified further in
the twentieth century.
The damage caused by bombings during the second
World War transformed some parts of the city. During the post-war
period, Alessandria expanded with the construction of new
residential districts: of the twentieth century are significant
the Dispensary for Tuberculosis Prevention, designed by Ignazio
Gardella and built between 1936 and 1938, one of the most
original works of Italian contemporary architecture, the House
of the Employees of the Borsalino, work of the architecture of
the fifties and the
Main Post Office, an example of rationalism of the use of
"autarkic" materials; the facade is decorated with mosaics of
Gino Severini that show the evolution of the post and telegraph;
indoors, the former writing room is decorated by a wall painting
by Giulio Rosso.
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Courtesy of Assessor at the Goods, Cultural
Activity and Tourism of the City of Alessandria and of the
Agency of Reception and Local Tourist Promotion of the Province
of Alessandria
(c) 1997-2008 E. Massetti
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