Vercelli
is a town of East Piedmont developed on an area 130 ms above
sea level. A tribe of Liguri (the Salluvii perhaps) dwelled
on this land once and founded the town later, probably about
the 6th century b.C.
Vercelli
The History
Vercelli had been submitted to the Romans since the 2nd century
b.C., only in 89 b.C. was Vercellae considered a Roman colony
and in 49 b.C. did it become one of the most important free municipium in Northern Italy, accordin to Tacitus thanks to
its strategic position in a plain on the great communication
roads.
Strongly important was the role that Vercelli played in
the conversion of the Northern regions to Christianity. Eusebius
of Vercelli was the first bishop in Piedmont and all the other
dioceses were definited out of this mould little by little.
Barbaric invasions did not spare the town, which soon became the
seat of a Longobard duchy and constantly underwent several
sieges and destructions.
Vercelli San Gaudenzio
The Longobards' conversion to Catholicism led to a period of
improved relationships between the two peoples.
Between the 9th
and the 11th centuries the bishops of Vercelli, by means of
their education and culture, could make it an international
town, embellished with architectures and beauty spots of immense
value.
In 889 the Hungarians' invasion plunged the town into the chaos
again and it took several years to reach a permanent
re-organization, probably during the episcopate of Atto
(924-960) and of Leo (999-1026). The bishop became a reference
point both for the church and for the people.
The decadence of the bishop's power began later, together with
the birth and the assertion of the free town (1141); soon the
struggle between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines reached
Vercelli too; the Guelph party was embodied by the Avogadro
family, the Ghibelline one by the Bicchieri, and later by the
Tizzoni. Peace was made before emperor Henry VII in the
chapter-house of St.Andrew abbey in December 1310.
The rule of the Tizzoni in Vercelli lasted until 1335, when
Vercelli was acquired by the Visconti and the free town came
down to be a mere administrative and bureaucratic machinery,
deprived of its original democratic functions.
In 1427 it passed definitely under the rule of the House of
Savoy and for at least one century it benefited from a period of
peace during which the arts could flourish.
The 16th and 17th centuries, on the contrary, are a dark period
marked by plague, famine, sieges and invasions now by the French
and then by the Spanish; only in 1713, thanks to the treaty of
Utrecht, did the town go back under the rule of the Dukes of
Savoy.
After the French Revolution Vercelli was annexed to France and
it became the capital city of the Sesia Department under
Napoleon I (1801). The people of Vercelli took part into the
liberal revolt and into the wars for independence; in the second
one this land plays an active part in the fight against the
Austrians.
Vercelli passed the under the government of Novara and was
restored as a province about 70 years later, in 1927.
Towards the end of the 19th century the political debate ignited
the public life, leading to the constitution of both liberal and
socialist organizations. In 1906 the mondine (rice-weeders)
played a fundamental role in the workers' achievement of a limit
of eight working hours a day.
At the beginning of the 20th century the first industrial
factories were set up in town. At the end of the First World
War, after a short period of socialist rule, Fascism got the
upper hand, taking hold of every nerve- center of power.
Yet, during the Second World War, Vercelli demonstrated a heroic
spirit in the Resistenza and could later regain a period of
welfare.
To See... The Basilica of St.Andrew is the symbol of the town, a
beautiful example of the passage from the Lombard-Emilian
Romanesque style to the French Gothic architecture. It was built
between 1219 and 1227 at the commission of Cardinal Guala
Bicchieri of Vercelli, one of the most influential members of
the Roman Curia, a leading protagonist of the events that marked
the history of England during the hard times of John Lackland's
succession to the throne.
The cabin-shaped facade, bordered by slender, elegant towers, is
embellished with refined lunettes on the three portals. The
central one, representing St.Andrew's martyrdom, is ascribed to
Benedetto Antelami.
The pure Gothic structure emphasizes the
stately interior with the nave and two aisles, with a groined
cross vault, a very high transept, a wide presbytery and a
square apse where beautiful XVI-century wooden choir is set. In
the last chapel on the right there is the 14th century, recently
pulled out of a later cover.
The chapter house is one of the finest in Italy; this is where,
in front of emperor Henry VII, the Guelph and the Ghibelline
parties of Vercelli made peace (1310). The rectangular cloister,
with full centerd arches, bears relieves, brickwork and
paintings dating from the early 16th century (now nearly
disappeared).
In front of the basilica is the Salone Dugentesco
(13th century Hall), that is what remains of the Ospedale dei
Pellegrini (Pilgrims' Hospital) founded in 1224 by the Bicchieri
family. Its entrace is embellished by a 13th century painted
lunette; in the elegant interior is kept a nice 16th century
fresco.
The Cathedral of St.Eusebius was built as a cemeterial
basilica, probably by Eusebius himself, and it was rebuilt for
the first time in the 5th century; the Medieval bell tower is
the only remaining part of this first period of reconstruction.
The second rebuilding began in 1570 following a plan of
Pellegrino Tibaldi and was concluded at the end of the 19th
century. The choir loft, the presbytery and the sacristy date
from the late 16th century; the chapel of the Blessed Amedeo
dates from the end of the 17th century. The well lit chapel of
St.Eusebius (where the mortal remains of the bishop are
worshipped) and the dome belong to the 19th century.
The impressing facade with neo-classical entrance hall by
Benedetto Alfieri leads to the grand interior with Latin cross
nave and two aisles. In the presbytery, in the middle of the
central nave, hangs a beautiful silver leaf Cross. Thanks to a
recent restauration, made after a dreadful act of vandalism,
this work was definitely dated to Leo's episcopate (999-1026).
The Chapel of Blessed Amedeo of Savoy, built by Michelangelo
Garove (a pupil of Guerini's) between 1682 and 1685, is
extremely interesting; here you can find the tombs of the Dukes
of Savoy and the urn containing the mortal remains of Amedeo the
IX of the house of Savoy.
In the cathedral there are also paintings by Pier Francesco
Guala (St.Eusebius in Glory and St.Ambrose; The Miracle of the
Spring made by St.William of Vercelli) and by the Gandolfi
brothers (the Inventio Crucis; St.Eusebius Martyrdom), 6th
century epigraphs (the acrostic of Eusebius bishop and martyr
and St.Flavian inscription), small wooden boards from the 16th
century choir, the statue of Our Lady of the Slap, a marble
statue from the 13th century.
The Cathedral Treasure Museum contains shrines of great
value dating from the 7th century to the 12th century, urns,
busts and silver chalices.
At the entrance you can see the original filling of the
Cathedral Cross, found during the long lasting restauration
work. The Capitular Library, instead, is independent by now: it
is one of the most interesting collections of manuscripts, among
which you can find the Codex Evangeliorum, the oldest Latin
translation of the Gospels, the Constitutiones Longobardorum
(8th century), the Apollo Medicus by Isidor of Sevilla (9th
century), the C Codex with sumptuous miniatures, and the
Medieval Map of the World, which dates to the end of the 12th
century or to the beginning of the 13th.
The most widely known item of the library is the "Vercelli
Book", a 10th century manuscript written in Old English on
parchment. How it has reached Vercelli is still a mystery.
The Camillo Leone Museum is the town's historical
museum, founded by Camillo Leone, a notary from Vercelli
(1830-1907). It is set in the 16th century Alciati House, that
is linked to the 18th century Langosco Palace by a joint built
in the Nineteen Thirties. The present arrangement was laid out
between 1934 and 1939.
In the first rooms there are relics belonging to the
Palaeolithic period, to the Neolithic age, to the Lead and Iron
ages, as well as objects from Egyptian tombs, baked-clay vases
from necropolis in Apulia and from the Etruscan area of
Campania, examples of Etruscan bucchero (a particular kind of
clay) and of Cyprus clay. The Roman room is very charming; it
keeps the oldest witnesses of the history of Vercelli, among
which we can remember the Celtic-Latin stele, two impressive
sarcophagus, a rich collection of glassware and an old Roman
paved road with milestones. The epigraphic department is very
rich and important; it shows inscriptions from the Vercelli area
(2nd century b.C.-2nd century a.D.), which were found in the
19th century by Father Luigi Bruzza.
The early Christian period of Vercelli is testified by epigraphs
and copies of works of art, the best of which is the copy of the
main portal of the ancient church of Santa Maria Maggiore; the
original 12th century mosaic flooring of this latter is also
kept, as well as the sculptures from the old pulpit of the
Cathedral. The colletion of incunabula and of 16th century books
made by the greatest printers in Vercelli and Trino is extremely
interesting. Some of C. Leone's colletions of decorative art is
displayed in the rooms of Palazzo Langosco. This precious and
varied collection (furniture, chinaware, glass, bronze, etc.)
contains jewels like the Bicchieri Casket, a Limoges 13th
century work, the Embriachi Casket (late 14th century), a
remarkable series of majolica works by the main manufacturies of
the period from the 16th to the 19th century; among these stands
out the plate signed by Avelli (Urbino, 1530-40). At the end of
the tour you can see the collection of 18th century clothes;
soon also ancient coins and arms, Medieval forged iron and
pre-Columbian chinaware.
The Francesco Borgogna Museum is the second biggest
picture-gallery in Piedmont. It is set in a neoclassical
building bought by the lawyer Antonio Borgogna (1822-1906), who
named it after his father and then offered it to the town. It
keeps Borgogna's rich collection of paintings, furniture and
objects of art, and the wide gallery of Vercelli Renaissance
pictures gathered by the School of Fine Arts.
The first rooms contain valuable Medieval frescos taken from
churches that no longer exist. The 16th century collection
displays oustanding works by Sodoma, Gaudenzio, Ferrari,
Defendente Ferrari, Spanzotti, the Giovenones, the Oldonis and
Bernardino Lanino; there are also works by Francia, Bergognone,
Bernardino Luini, Palma the Elder and paintings ascribed to
Titian.
Also the 17th century collection (with paintings by Ludovico
Carracci and by Sassoferrato), the Nordic one (Hans Baldung
Grien, Jan Steen, Gerard Ter Borch, David Teniers the Younger,
Pieter Neefs the Younger, Philipps Wouwemann) and the 19th
century italian one (Induno, Chierici, Palizzi, Quadrone, Ussi,
Morbelli, Favretto, Follini, Migliara, Massimo D'Azeglio) are
absolutely remarkable. On the 2nd floor there is a collection of
chinaware and glassware.
Piazza Cavour, perhaps built on the old Roman forum,
always called "the Major Square" before it was given its present
name in 1864, is the pivot of the town space and of urban life.
The eponymous statue of Cavour was made by Ercole Villa and
Giuseppe Argenti.
Reminders of the Medieval past are the arcades dating from the
end of the 13th century or the beginning of the 14th, another
series of arcades, which are remarkable for the 15th century
brick decoration of the intrados, and the powerful Angel Tower
(14th-19th century), that is probably the only remains of an old
fortified house.
Once there was a series of three churches here, but only does
the bell-tower of St. Thomas' church remain of it; it was turned
into a clock-tower in 1856. A few steps from here you will find
the seat of the old Broletto, which was set in today's Piazza
Palazzo Vecchio, commonly known as Piazza dei Pesci (Fish Market
Square).
The Town Hall stayed in this place from the 13th century to the
beginning of the 19th. The old Municipal Tower, dating back to
the early 13th century, is a very charming witness of the Middle
Ages of Vercelli.
The church of St.Christopher is the place where you can
find the best works of Gaudenzio Ferrari (the altar-piece of Our
Lady of the Oranges, the Stories of St.Mary Madgalene, the
Stories from the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the
Crucifixion and the Assumption of the Virgin Mary).
The interior, with the nave, two aisles and transept, has a 13th
century frescoed vault. A 15th century crucifix stands on the
high altar and another one, probably of the 16th century, is
placed in the chapel that reproduces the Holy House of Loreto in
its minutest details. The wide presbytery is separated by
elegant banisters, which were made following a plan by Juvarra
(1730).
The choir, the pulpit, the confessionals, the sacristy furniture
are made of a valuable wood and date back to the mid-18th
century. On the main altar there is a precious wooden Cross; in
the side chapel of the right aisle, that reproduces the Holy
House of Loreto, there is a 16th century Cross by Gaudenzio
Ferrari. There are eight paintings by Mayerle in the sacristy.
The church of St.Bernard is the seat of the diocesan
sanctuary of Our Lady Health of the Sick, a very important
center of popular devotion. It is made up of two parts: the
former is the oldest Romanesque monument in Vercelli, built
between 1151 and 1168; the new part was built in 1896 after
Locarni's plan. Of the old building we still have the brick
facade with two zoomorph tiles and the fine Romanesque capitals
of the first spans.
The story of this church is connected to the miracle which saved
the people of Vercelli from the plague in 1630, thanks to
St.Mary intercession (celebrated in the great fresco made by
Carlo Morgari in 1914). From then on the feast of St.Mary Health
of the Sick is celebrated fervently and a 17th century icon is
venerated in the third chapel on the left of the church.
Corso Liberta' is the old street that linked on a
West-East line the two great communication roads to Turin and to
Milan, cutting across the town center. It starts from Piazza
Pajetta, where Ercole Villa's monument of Vittorio Emanuele
stands (1887). The Corso ends in Piazza Cugnolio, at the side of
the ancient nunnery of St.Claire.
Churches of the town center Santa Maria Maggiore, co-cathedral church, is the first
Christian church built in Vercelli (4th century), perhaps at the
commission of Eusebius bishop. After the rebuilding of the 12th
century the church was restored and embellished according to the
time's taste, until when, in 18th century, it was destroyed and
built again by order of the Jesuits on the place where it is
today (about 100 meters from its original site).
St.Francis, now St.Agnes, is the third Gothic church in
Vercelli, though it can only be admired in its present Baroque
architecture. The stately interior with the nave and two aisles,
contains a Madonna with Holy Child, Donor and Saints by Giuseppe
Giovenone the Younger (1570-75) and Gerolamo Giovenone's
St.Ambrose (1528-35). Basins of graffito clay (14th century) and
an Announciation by Morazzone (about 1620) are kept in the
sacristy.
St.Julian is very old as well. During the Middle Ages
the new elected bishops used to stop at this church to wear the
pontifical gown before getting their episcopal chairs. The
interior keeps an Adoration of the Three Magi of the Gaudenzio
Ferrari school and a Resurrection of local school dating from
the same period. Also the frescos on the wooden pilasters of the
nave and on the internal walls of the steeple date back to the
16th century.
St.Lawrence, now showing an elegant 18th century
structure, once had a hospital for the pilgrims on the via
francigena to Rome.
St.Paul, old Dominican church, founded in the 12th
century, is utterly relashed in its present appearance. Only do
the bell-tower and the first three spans keep their original
shape. In the interior there are two works by Bernardino Lanino
(the Nativity and Our Lady of Grace). In a hall leading to the
sacristy there are frescos of The Saints dating back to the late
13th century.
St.Michael probably has pre-Longobard origins, though
the oldest element is now the Romanesque bell-tower (early 12th
century). The present building dates back to the 16th-17th
century. In the interior, of great interest, are a fresco by
Lanino representing a Madonna with Holy Child, St.Anne and
St.Jacob, a wooden polychromatic crucifix of the 14th century
and a tarsia.
Holy Saviour's church has been rebuilt according to
late 17th century architecture. Inside there are polychromatic
marble structures and paintings of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Great Buildings
The Seminary was founded in 1572-87 by the bishop of
Vercelli Francesco Bonomi; the oldest part of the building is
linked to the internal courtyard, planned by Filippo Juvarra
with a very harmonious rectangular design. In St.Eusebius Hall
there are frescos with scenes from the Aeneid, ascribed to
Bernardino Lanino.
The Archibishop's Palace. Although it is not the palace
which housed the first bishops of Vercelli, the one we can see
today, dating from the Renaissance period, is very worthy from
the artistical and historical point of view. Inside, the grand
Throne room houses a picture-gallery of masterpieces of the 16th
century-Vercelli school of painting. In the delegation rooms you
can behold frescos and views, and remind events and noble people
who stayed here. The Bishop's Library contains about two
thousand books.
Visconti Castle, of quadrangular plan, was built from
1290 on, at Matteo Visconti's command. Later it became the
Savoys' dwelling place. The Blessed Amedeo died here in 1472 and
was buried in the chapel in the Cathedral. Spoiled after the
Spanish attack in 1638, it was used as military headquarters
during the Napoleonic period; in 1832 it was changed into a
prison and then into law-court from 1838.
The Synagogue, is the first to be built in Italy after
the amancipation of the Jews ratified by Carlo Alberto (1848)
and it reminds of Vercelli Jewish Community's past welfare. It
was built between 1875 and 1878 with Arab-Moresque style, after
a plan by Marco treves and Giuseppe Locarni. The facade is based
on the color alternation of white and grey-blue of the
sandstone. The interior (at present unfit for use), with the
nave, two aisles and polygonal apse, is brightened up by Carlo
Costa's fine decorations.
Tizzoni House is situated in a square, better known as
"Chestnut square" because chestnut roasters used to be there
steadily until the half of our century. Of the old mansion we
still have the tower and a 16th century rebuilding: the lower
hall was decorated by Moncalvo in the first half of the 17th
century.
Centori's House is well-known for its elegant
courtyard, made at the end of the 15th century according to
Bramante's style. The surrounding area is very charming: on the
right there is the Volto dei Centori, commonly known as the old
Chimney Sweepers' Contrada.
