Ivrea

Ivrea

 

Ivrea (Ivréa in Piedmontese, Ivreja in the Canavese dialect, Eebri in the Töitschu variant of the Walser language, Ivrée in French) is an Italian town of 23 442 inhabitants (called eporedians) in the metropolitan city of Turin, in Piedmont. It is considered "the capital of the Canavese". On 1 July 2018 it became part of the UNESCO heritage (54th Italian site).

 

Monuments and places of interest

Religious architecture

Cathedral of Santa Maria
The Cathedral of Ivrea stands on the square of the same name on the north-west elevation of the historic centre, and is connected to the Palazzo del Vescovado via a covered connection. The discovery of Roman remains in the oldest parts of the church, or found during the nineteenth-century excavations, lead us to believe that there was already a temple in axis with the underlying theater (of which some traces are still visible) since the first century BC. The temple was then transformed into a Christian church, between the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th century, when the Diocese was established. Expanded around 1000 on the initiative of Bishop Warmondo, two bell towers of the ancient Romanesque structure are conserved today, the columns visible in the ambulatory behind the apse and the frescoed crypt (containing an ancient Roman sarcophagus, which tradition has it then preserved the remains of San Besso, co-patron of Ivrea together with San Savino).

During the reconstruction that took place in the 12th century, following a relatively important earthquake in Northern Italy in 1117, the cathedral changed its appearance, adopting a plan much more similar to today's. Then in 1516, the bishop Bonifacio Ferrero had a new façade built, with a portico in the Bramante style which replaced the ancient Romanesque façade. In 1854 it was in turn replaced by the current neoclassical facade, designed by the architect Gaetano Bertolotti.

Church of San Nicola da Tolentino
On the same Piazza del Duomo, next to it, there is also the church of San Nicola da Tolentino, built in 1605 by the confraternity of the same name, and which has many elements of historical and artistic interest (façade, frescoes and wooden sculptures in the Baroque style ).

Church of San Gaudenzio
It is a small church of late Baroque architecture built between 1716 and 1724, attributed to the Savoy architect Luigi Andrea Guibert. The building stands on a small hill, once outside the town of Ivrea, while today it is completely surrounded (except for the facade) by urban development. Inside there is a remarkable cycle of frescoes by Luca Rossetti da Orta with scenes dedicated to the life of San Gaudenzio, a 4th-century saint believed to be a native of Ivrea.

Church of Sant'Ulderico
The first church was built in the years immediately following the canonization of Ulrich of Augsburg. The interior of the building underwent a total makeover according to the Baroque fashion in the eighteenth century.

Sanctuary of Monte Stella and Chapel of the Three Kings
The Sanctuary of Monte Stella is a devotional place located on a hill that stands near the market square, along which a Via Crucis winds. Continuing uphill past the Sanctuary, we reach the Chapel of the Three Kings, in which there is a recently restored fresco (Nativity and Saints Rocco and Sebastiano) by the Spanzotti school. The sanctuary was built in 1627, but today only the bell tower has remained intact. The rest of the building, i.e. the circular temple, dates back to the 19th century. As for the Chapel of the Three Kings, the year of construction dates back to 1220: tradition has it that it was Saint Francis, passing through Ivrea, who suggested its construction. The chapel has Romanesque architecture.

Church of the Holy Cross
The church of Santa Croce, located in via Arduino 9, was founded in 1622 as an oratory for the confraternity of the Suffrage. Inside it contains an elegant altar (1749), a wooden choir (1695) and especially an important cycle of frescoes created in 1753 and 1751 by Luca Rossetti da Orta.

Church of San Bernardino
The church of San Bernardino is decentralized with respect to the historical centre, in the Olivetti industrial area of via Jervis. It is in Gothic style, of modest proportions, built together with the adjoining convent in 1455 by the Franciscan order of the minor friars. The building was then completed in 1457, with a quadrangular plan with cross vaults. In 1465 expansion works took place, with the construction of a nave for public access and two side chapels. The monastery began its decline towards the end of the 16th century and in the 18th century the complex suffered further deterioration due to successive military occupations, until the Napoleonic conquest and the abolition of ecclesiastical properties. In 1910 Camillo Olivetti bought the complex to transform it into his home, while between 1955 and 1958 his son Adriano Olivetti transformed everything into a headquarters for social services and after-work activities for Olivetti employees. The church of San Bernardino houses a cycle of frescoes on the Life and Passion of Christ, painted between 1485 and 1490 by Giovanni Martino Spanzotti and restored in the 1950s thanks to the work of Adriano Olivetti.

The Synagogue
It was built in 1870 following the expansion of the Jewish community. The building is located in via Quattro Martiri in the historic center of the city. After a period of abandonment, it was renovated in 1999 and also used for various cultural activities.

 

Civil architectures

Town Hall and National Square
The historic main square of Ivrea, although it is one of the smallest, is located in the ancient historic village and divides the central street, i.e. via Palestro-via Arduino, into two parts. In ancient times, it was called Piazza Palazzo di Città or, more simply, Piazza di Città, a name that still remains in today's popular language. It housed some buildings, including an ancient hospital, the De Burgo, decommissioned in 1750 and replaced by the current Palazzo di Città, i.e. the Palazzo Civico, seat of the Town Hall, designed by the architect Giovanni Battista Borra, and from which the tall bell tower with clock. Opposite the Palazzo di Città stands the Romanesque church of Sant'Ulderico and the Palazzo della Congregazione di Carità. With the birth of Vittorio Emanuele I (1759), the square was first named after the King, but was later renamed Piazza Ferruccio Nazionale, in memory of the partisan hanged here in 1944.

The Palace of Credence
Ancient Gothic building from the 14th century, seat of the Town Council (made up of the so-called Credendari) at the time of the free Municipality of Ivrea.

The Ponte Vecchio and the Borghetto
The area of the city characterized by the Ponte Vecchio refers to the Roman bridge built around the third century which crossed the Dora Baltea and carried out the defensive walls, in the so-called Borghetto, a fortress of ancient houses and craft shops, subsequently enclosed by defensive walls with three accesses, respectively towards Banchette, Pavone and Turin. In the following centuries, the bridge was rebuilt in wood, while in the Middle Ages it was reinforced and equipped with two turrets, of which the external one also had a drawbridge. Around the 17th century the wooden bridge was replaced by a masonry bridge, then reinforced again in the following century, and subsequently enlarged in 1830.

Today the bridge is still fully functional, constituting the beginning of the current via Gozzano road that crosses the aforementioned Borghetto, but the adjacent bridge, of more recent construction, the Ponte Adriano Olivetti, on corso Nigra, area of Art Nouveau and late 19th century buildings which include, among others, Villa Luisa, Villa Ravera and Palazzo Ravera. In front of it you enter the romantic Lungo Dora, with a large and artistic fountain dedicated to Camillo Olivetti, founder of the homonymous factory, the work of the sculptor Emilio Greco in 1957.

Finally, there is a third parallel iron bridge, the Ferrovia bridge, built in 1885, over which the Chivasso-Aosta line passes.

The Borghetto is dominated by Mount Ferroglietto, on which once stood a defensive fort known as the Citadel. Today, in its place, stands Villa Chiampo, former residence of Giacomo Chiampo, mayor of Ivrea from 1888 to 1895.

The Tower of Santo Stefano
As already mentioned, the tower of Santo Stefano was the bell tower of the homonymous Benedictine abbey from the 11th century, built at the behest of Bishop Enrico. Little is known about the original structure of the complex, as few historical remains remain today. The tower (and therefore the abbey) was built with bricks of probable Roman origin, while from an architectural point of view it appears to be an example of Canavese Romanesque architecture. The abbey was partially destroyed during French rule in 1558, by order of Marshal Charles I of Cossé, Count of Brissac, and later in 1757 by the hand of Count Perrone. The latter wanted to expand the garden of his palace (now known as Palazzo Giusiana), which once overlooked the area. The result was the complete destruction of the complex, except for the bell tower which is still today in the public gardens of Ivrea. In the early 2000s, the tower underwent a major restoration. In front of it, on the Dora, stands the Palazzo dei Bagni.

The Tallianti Tower
Ancient Romanesque tower built between the 12th and 13th centuries, it is located not far from the Tower of Santo Stefano near the Giusiana Gardens.

Giacosa Theatre
It was built in 1829, based on a project by the architect Maurizio Storero, who had been commissioned by the municipal administration to build a new civic theatre. With a show, performed on November 30, in 1922 the Civic Theater was named after Giuseppe Giacosa, on the proposal of Salvator Gotta, a native of Montalto Dora, a town in the Ivrea area.

Cinema Giuseppe Boaro
Built in 1910, it is one of the first Italian cinemas. It is located almost at the entrance of via Palestro, the main street of the historical centre. The cinema, extensively renovated and modernized, is still active today and houses the only 3D projection room in the city.

Villa Castilla
Villa Castiglia, also known as La Castiglia, is a historic building in the city of Ivrea.

Villa Casana
Villa Casana, formerly Villa Carpenetto, was built as a holiday residence by the Marquises of Carpenetto. Since 1987 it has housed the Olivetti Historical Archive.

Ferrando house
In the San Lorenzo district is the neo-Gothic Casa Ferrando.

 

Military architectures

The Savoy Castle of Ivrea
Also celebrated by Carducci, in the verse quoted at the top of this page, the castle of the three towers is somewhat the emblem of the city. Built (1357) by Amedeo VI of Savoy; made entirely of bricks, with a trapezoidal plan with four circular towers placed at its vertices, it had been thought of as a defensive fortification (a function which it then did not perform, proving to be insufficient, with the introduction of gunpowder, to support artillery shots).
Used as a shelter, lightning blew up one of the four towers used as an ammunition depot in 1676: it was never rebuilt. Previously used as a prison, today it is occasionally used for exhibitions and events.

 

Streets and squares

Via Palestro

 

Archaeological sites

Roman vestiges
Built around the middle of the 1st century AD. near the road to Vercelli, it is thought that it could accommodate more than ten thousand spectators. The archaeological area also includes a pre-existing villa, some of whose walls were incorporated into the amphitheater.

In the bed of the Dora, approximately at the height of the Botta high school, are the vestiges of the ancient Pons Major, built in the 1st century AD. in monumental forms.

 

Natural areas

Woods and marshes of Bellavista (SIC/ZSC), shared with Pavone Canavese.

 

Getting here

By plane
Turin airport, about 45 minutes by car.


By car
From Turin: A5 Turin-Aosta motorway, Ivrea exit
From Milan: A4 Milan-Turin motorway, A4-A5 Santhià-Ivrea link road, A5 Aosta, Ivrea exit
From Aosta: A5 Aosta-Turin motorway, Ivrea exit
From Genoa: A26 Genova-Gravellona motorway, A26 Alessandria-Santhià, link road A4-A5 Santhià-Ivrea, A5 Aosta, Ivrea exit

On the train
Ivrea railway station, Corso Nigra, 73.

 

Getting around

By public transport
The urban transport service in Ivrea is managed by GTT (Gruppo Torinese Trasporti).

 

Events and parties

Carnival of Ivrea, city streets. Carnival Sunday, Shrove Monday and Shrove Tuesday. It is most famous for the "Battle of the Oranges".
Feast of S. Savino (July 7). edit

 

Culture

Instruction
The city's school system offers education up to university level. In addition to nursery, elementary and middle schools, there are technical and professional institutes and high schools, including the historic Carlo Botta Classical High School and the Antonio Gramsci Scientific High School.

In 1893 the "Card. Cagliero" Salesian Institute was founded, from 1922 to 2003 a training school for aspiring Salesian missionaries from all over Italy.

At the university level there is a degree program in Nursing.

There is also, on the initiative of some citizens, the "Popular University of the Third Age and Permanent Education (UNI3Ivrea)" . Established for over 30 years, it has a remarkable range of courses and currently has about 1500 members and offers about 80 courses divided into several levels.

Libraries
There are several libraries in Ivrea. The main one is the Civic Library which is part of the library system of Ivrea and Canavese. The latter is a system of 76 public libraries born in 1978 with the aim of facilitating services in the area whose catalog can be consulted online. The Civic Library of Ivrea has 179,640 printed books and brochures, 1,625 periodicals, 945 audiovisuals and Internet access.

Chapter Library
The Capitulary Library is located in the premises of the Seminary, near the Cathedral, and holds an important collection of "miniature codes" between the 7th and 15th centuries. Among them the Sacramentarium Episcopi Warmundi of the year 1002, a parchment code of 444 pages, with multiple miniatures and golden initial letters.

Museums
The Civic Museum P.A. Garda
It preserves archaeological, ethnographic and artistic finds (among them a wooden crib dating back to around 1470, from the Chapel of the Three Kings). The museum is important for the precious collection of Japanese lacquerware and other oriental art objects (over 500 works) donated in 1874 to the city of Ivrea by Pier Alessandro Garda. The museum also includes finds from the collection of Palazzo Giusiana, the museum's first site. The Garda collection includes objects from Japan, while from Palazzo Giusiana we find several Chinese and Asian objects. The largest sector of the collection is made up of metal objects, followed by those in lacquer, porcelain and paintings.

Open Air Museum of Modern Architecture (MAAM)
Inaugurated in 2001, with the aim of enhancing the "cultural legacy" of Olivetti, which has stood out since the 1950s for its avant-garde projects in the field of urban planning and industrial and civil architecture (all developed by prestigious architects ). The museum itinerary winds along via Guglielmo Jervis and other contiguous sites. The buildings collected by the MAAM are: Palazzo Uffici 1 and 2 (Olivetti headquarters), the ICO workshops and heating plant, the nursery school, the canteen, the study centre, the Crist residential district, the West Residential Unit, called popularly Talponia (consisting of a subterranean arched complex on one side and open bay windows on the hillside on the other) and numerous other dwellings for employees and managers. The municipality of Banchette begins near the Palazzo Uffici 1, whose modern district essentially made up of small buildings, was built in the 60s and 70s on behalf of Olivetti, in order to guarantee a home for its employees close to the work site. A curious building is the one called La Serra. It recalls the shape of a typewriter, which initially contained a characteristic hotel inside, where each "key to be typed" represented a hotel room; in the building there was also a conference room and a swimming pool but over time the hotel has been transformed into mini-apartments and the conference room into a cinema.

Laboratory-Museum Tecnologic@mente
Inaugurated in 2006 and managed by the Natale Capellaro Foundation, it is located in Piazza San Francesco d'Assisi in the premises of the Opera Pia Moreno. The stories of the technologies that have allowed Ivrea to achieve world leadership in the mechanical and electronics sector are illustrated within the exhibition. You can admire many typewriters including the Olivetti M1 and the Valentine, various mechanical calculating machines, such as the Divisumma 24 and the Tetractys, and electric and electronic calculating machines such as the Olivetti P101. Finally you can also find a mini history of the computer and a restoration laboratory. The second wing of the museum is dedicated to educational workshops dedicated to schools of all levels, which allow young people to discover past technologies and explore current ones through ludic-educational paths.

 

Cuisine

Twentieth century cake
The 900 cake was invented at the end of the 19th century by the Eporedian master pastry chef Ottavio Bertinotti, to celebrate the arrival of the new century. However, the patent was filed only in 1972 and was later taken over by the Balla pastry shop, which still produces the cake with the secret recipe. This is therefore the only place in the world where it is possible to taste the original Novecento cake. The dessert consists of two layers of chocolate sponge cake separated by a layer of chocolate cream, very delicate and difficult to imitate. The surface is covered with icing sugar.

Eporediesi
The Eporedians are biscuits of unknown origin. They therefore do not have a well-defined recipe, but there are numerous variations. They have a flattened and rather large shape, with a cracked appearance and a particular consistency: the outside is in fact crunchy, while the heart is tender. The main ingredients are cocoa, hazelnuts and almonds.

Polenta from Ivrea
It is a small cake created in 1922 by the Strobbia brothers, who later patented the recipe. It is usually made with small single-portion shapes, the size of the palm of a hand. The consistency is soft, while in appearance it is brownish in color, but with a yellow heart. This is due to the use of cornmeal and starch, while the external color is due to the thin coating made with honey, orange juice and grains.

Faseuj grass
The Faseuj grass are not exactly a typical dish of Ivrea, but of the entire Canavese area. During the carnival it is sold to passers-by (both as a taster and to take away) mainly by the Castellazzo and Monte Navale companies. Faseuj grass is stewed beans cooked with pork rind and spiced salami. It is a long-cooking dish, about 6 hours, which takes place inside suitable large-capacity terracotta pots (tofeje) placed on wood-burning stoves. The result is a soup with a creamy consistency, but with the beans still whole, to be combined with mulled wine.

 

Festivals

Carnival
The historic carnival of Ivrea known for the famous "battle of the oranges" dates back to 1808, the year in which the Napoleonic Empire ordered to unify the local carnivals into a single party.

Other important elements are represented by the symbol of the Jacobin revolt characterized by the Phrygian cap worn in 1792, during the French revolution, a symbol of renewal and freedom, by the uniforms of the Napoleonic army, by the fifes and ending with the scarlo (pole covered with heather and juniper ) which is ceremonially burned as a good omen.

The legend on which much of the carnival is built has it that Violetta, the daughter of a miller betrothed to Toniotto, rebels against the claims of the feudal lord who claims the right to jus primae noctis. Pretending to accept her invitation after having gone to the castle of San Maurizio, she kills the tyrant with a dagger that she had hidden in her hair and gives the signal to the people who rise up against the nobles. In fact, the people lived difficult moments also because of the taxes on the ground and on marriage. The sword with the orange placed at its top is meant to evoke the head of the slain tyrant.

The Historic Carnival of Ivrea is a unique event, recognized as an Italian event of international importance, as per the communication of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of 09.27.1956.

San Savino
The feast of the patron saint of Ivrea, or San Savino, is held on 7 July. The major celebrations are linked to the horse fair and include a parade of vintage carriages and equestrian exhibitions. This equestrian tradition is strengthened by the carnival one as horses and related crafts are used in the key moments of the Carnival.

During the celebrations of San Savino a fireworks display is carried out (clearly visible from the Lungo Dora), numerous stalls and a small amusement park are set up in the market area.

Christ's passion
During the Easter period, the Municipality, the Diocese and the Il Diamante association organize a cultural itinerary that reactivates the lost medieval tradition of popular entertainment on a religious theme, culminating on the eve of Palm Sunday in the Sacred Medieval Representation of the Passion of Christ. About 300 extras take part in the event.

 

Geography

Ivrea is located at a latitude 45 ° 27 '44 "North and longitude 7 ° 52' 29" East, with an altitude of 267 m a.s.l. Bathed by the Dora Baltea river, a tributary of the Po, it is located in an area formed by a large Pleistocene glacier, which over time carried numerous debris that formed a series of morainic reliefs, including the so-called Serra Morenica, considered the longest, massive and straightest hill in Europe, about 25 km, and which separates the northern Canavese from the Biellese. The particular arrangement of the morainic structures in fact tends to form a real geological amphitheater, in which Ivrea is located in the center.
Following the retreat of the last glaciation (about 9700 BC), the area was enriched with numerous moraine lakes, which still surround the city today.
They are mainly five, Lake Sirio, Lake San Michele (towards Chiaverano), Lake Pistono in Montalto Dora, Lake Nero (between Montalto Dora and Borgofranco) and Lake Campagna in Cascinette. A little further away are also Lake Viverone (on the border with the Province of Biella) and Lake Candia (in the lower Canavese), as well as other various small scattered stretches of water.

A strategic road crossroads already in ancient times, to the west of Ivrea it is possible to reach Valchiusella, while to the north the Valle d'Aosta region. The road to Vercelli and Milan departs to the east. To the northeast, the one to Biella, only 20 km away as the crow flies and 35 km by road.
The historic center of Ivrea climbs up a hill leading to the Savoy Castle and the Cathedral, while the modern part extends flat, occupying both banks of the Dora Baltea and the surrounding territories.
To the south, instead, you enter the Canavese, towards Turin. In 1468, at the behest of Jolanda of France, the so-called Naviglio di Ivrea was built, an irrigation canal intended to supply water to the rice fields of the Vercelli area and which, being originally navigable, allowed the connection between Ivrea and Vercelli.

Neighborhoods and hamlets
Ivrea is divided into 26 districts and districts: San Grato, Canton Vesco, Canton Vigna, La Sacca, Bellavista, Via Miniere-Via Jervis, Porta Torino-Stazione-Movicentro-Via Dora Baltea area, Borghetto, Centro Storico, Crist, Porta Aosta -Sant'Antonio, San Pietro Martire, Via Sant'Ulderico, Lake Sirio, Prafagiolo, Canton Gabriel, Lake San Michele, Montodo-Monte della Guardia, Porta Vercelli, San Lorenzo, La Fiorana, San Giovanni, Canton Gillio, La Fornace, Torre Balfredo, San Bernardo.

 

Climate

The climate is temperate, mild and relatively humid. Winters are rarely harsh with an average of 90 night frosts.

The average temperature in January is 1.2 ° C, that in July 23.1 ° C. Average annual rainfall is 982 mm, the wettest month is May (125 mm), the least rainy / snowy month is January (32 mm). This rainfall regime therefore defines two seasons, summer and winter, which are drier and two seasons which are rainier, spring and autumn. Spring and winter have more marked characteristics.

It should be noted that in recent years the summer temperatures have been over 30 ° C during the afternoon hours in July.

 

History

The ancient name is Eporedia, a name still often used to call the city. It was founded around the 5th century BC. by the Salassi, a people of Celtic origin who settled in the Canavese area. The toponym could therefore derive from the Celtic divinity Epona, in particular from the contraction of the Gallic terms epo, similar to the ancient Greek hippos, (horse), and reda, that is, four-wheeled chariot, indicating it as an already strategic road station for equestrian wagons for access cisalpini.

 

The Romans Latinized the name, which underwent variations, such as Iporeia, then Ivreia, Ivrea. Starting from the 1st century BC it was in fact a Roman colony, located to guard the military road that from the Piedmontese plain went into the valleys of the Dora Baltea. Particularly relevant, among the archaeological remains of this period, are the ruins of the amphitheater, located a short distance from the current historic center. Later it changed its name to Augusta Eporedia. In the Lombard period, however, Ivrea became the seat of the duchy of the same name, between the sixth and seventh centuries. At the beginning of the eighth century, Ivrea became a county and a brand, under the Frankish reign, through the nascent Anscarica dynasty. Here, after a period of conflict with Warmondo (powerful bishop of the city), in the year 1000 it was acquired by the Marquis Arduino da Pombia who, the following year, in Pavia, was elected King by a diet of princes and lords against the at the behest of Emperor Otto III of Saxony. The city Ivrea acquired great importance within the Kingdom of Italy. King Arduino, in stark contrast to both the church of Ivrea and that of Vercelli, was excommunicated by Pope Sylvester II, and remained on the throne until 1014, the year in which he abandoned the struggle by retiring to the abbey of Fruttuaria where he died in 1018. At the end of the 11th century, after the period of the Arduinids, Ivrea returned to be dominated by the episcopal lordship.

A reminder of this period is the still existing Torre di Santo Stefano, at the end of Corso Botta, strongly desired and subsidized by Pope Nicholas II to reaffirm power over the city, at the time used as the bell tower of the adjacent Benedictine monastery (now disappeared ), detachment of the Fruttuaria di San Benigno Canavese abbey.

In the second half of the 12th century he tried to assert himself the political power of the Marquises of Monferrato, establishing the territory of the "municipality of Ivrea and Canavese", but destined in any case to succumb in the first decades of the following century.
In 1238, the emperor Frederick II placed the city under his dominion; later on, the lordship of the city will again be disputed between the bishop of Ivrea, the marquis of Monferrato and other potentates, including the count of Savoy. In 1356, Ivrea therefore passed under the dominion of the Conte Verde di Savoia and, in the second half of the 14th century, the city witnessed the peasant revolt against the abuses of the Canavese nobles which goes under the name of "tuchinaggio".
With the exception of brief periods of Spanish and then French occupation in the sixteenth century, Ivrea remained under the dependence of the Savoy for practically the entire period between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries.

On May 26, 1800, Napoleon was welcomed in Ivrea together with his victorious troops. Under the Napoleonic dominion Ivrea was the capital of the "Département de la Doire", one of the five into which Piedmont had been divided; however, in 1814 the city, as well as the rest of Piedmont, returned to the Savoy, with Vittorio Emanuele I, king of Sardinia. From 1859 to 1927 Ivrea became the capital of the district of the same name, one of the five into which the province of Turin of the Kingdom of Sardinia was divided, until the unification of Italy.

The twentieth century saw the city as the protagonist of a new industrial center, with the foundation of the prestigious Olivetti typewriter factory, starting in 1908.

In 1927 the city, together with 112 other municipalities in the upper Canavese area, was annexed to the Aosta Valley, to form a new Province of Aosta. This annexation will be dissolved in 1945, to return under the Province of Turin. At the end of the eighties, with the closure of Olivetti, the city's economy suffered a severe blow; a few years later, the city will become the headquarters of the mobile telecommunications company Omnitel-Vodafone Italia.

 

Economy

The socio-economic development of Ivrea, especially after the Second World War, was largely linked to the growth and social policy of the Olivetti group, which has its administrative center and important industrial settlements in Ivrea. With the decline of Olivetti since the end of the nineties, Ivrea has experienced a painful reconversion of its economic and employment structure, with a growth of small and medium-sized industry and an increase in tertiary activities. Currently in the surroundings of Ivrea there are numerous small companies, but of considerable technological content.

The city was the protagonist of an interesting experience of local government, centered on the ideals of federalism and humanitarian socialism, an entirely unique experience in Italy. The factory founded by Camillo Olivetti stood out from the rest of the Italian industrial scene right from its inception, not only pursuing profit, but also the social and cultural progress of its employees. At the heart of the "Olivetti philosophy" was above all the well-being of its employees. Olivetti granted "flexible hours" which allowed employees, mainly fathers of families of peasant origin, to be able to follow the seasonality of rural life, continuing their activities. It provided scholarships and, for the families of the workers, toys and Christmas gifts. The industrial district had a dense network of medical clinics for all pathologies, nursery schools, summer camps, a canteen and a library. It also offered both sea and mountain summer camps (Brusson, Marina di Massa, Donoratico); and everything was available free of charge or at decidedly discounted prices for employees and their families. The Olivetti "Gold Brooch" was a recognition to older employees, who thus became part of a sort of club, which provided them with various services, including the possibility of spending the summer holidays in partnered hotels.

Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century
The industrial city of Ivrea was built between the years 1930 and 1960 by Adriano Olivetti. The architectural heritage covers 70% of the urbanized perimeter of Ivrea, and constitutes an example of residential, industrial and social buildings. The city is the result of multiple intellectual efforts to achieve Olivetti's socio-cultural idea, which he called the best urban planners and architects of the time to collaborate with him. Since 2008, the Adriano Olivetti Foundation has launched the enhancement of the modern architectural heritage of the city of Ivrea, which culminated in 2012 with the inclusion of Ivrea, an industrial city of the 20th century, in the nominations for the list of world heritage sites. The candidacy dossier and the management plan were delivered in January 2016 to UNESCO in Paris, on the recommendation of the Board of Directors of the Italian National Commission of UNESCO. "Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century" was examined at the 42nd session of the World Heritage Committee held in June 2018 in Bahrain and has therefore become the 54th Italian UNESCO site.

 

Soccer

Football at 11
FC Ivrea 1905 which plays in the promotion group B
U.S.D. San Grato Ivrea in Group A of the Third Category
Bellavista Calcio in Group A of the Third Category
A.S.M. St. Bernard
Independiente Ivrea Women's Football which plays in the Serie C women's football championship

5-a-side football
San Bernardo C5 in group A of Serie D
Eporedia C5 in group A of series C1

German football
San Bernardo d'Ivrea German Football
American Football
Mastiffs Ivrea

Volleyball
IBS Ivrea Canavese Volley which plays in the Serie B2 championship plays its matches at the Antonicelli gym. Winner of several youth championships.

Petanque
Gsro-Brb Ivrea reigning champion of Italy and Europe.

basketball
Ivrea Basket Team
Letter Basketball School 22
Eporedia Basketball

Rugby
Ivrea Rugby - http://www.ivrearugby.it/

Canoe
The city has a Canoe stadium and has hosted several international level competitions over time:

Canoe World Championship (downhill) 2008
Canoe World Championships (slalom) 2016 and 2017
It is also the headquarters of the Ivrea Canoa Club.

Triathlon
Tree House Triathlon Team
SIRIO TriRace: triathlon competition on the Olympic distance of the national circuit of the Italian Triathlon Federation

Cycling
Ivrea has been crossed numerous times by the Giro d'Italia. In the new millennium on the occasion of the 13th stage of the 2006 edition, Alessandria > La Thuile. On the occasion of the 2012 edition, the 14th stage, Cherasco > Cervinia. At the 2013 Giro, for the first time Ivrea hosted a stage finish, the 16th stage, starting from Valloire, a circuit was set up in the last kilometres. On the occasion of the 2014 edition, the 14th stage Agliè > Oropa included a passage. In the 2015 edition, the 20th stage Saint-Vincent > Sestrière passed through Ivrea. Finally, in the 2019 edition, for the first time Ivrea hosts a stage start, the 15th, with an expected arrival in Como.

Rally
Rally d'Ivrea, an automobile competition born in 1992 for the Rallysprint and concluded in 1995 for the National Italian Cup.
Historic Rally Virgilio Conrero, rally competition with historic cars such as Lancia Stratos and Porsche 911.

Fencing
Headquarters of the "Giuseppe Delfino" club, which offers fencing courses for children and adults. President the aforementioned Andrea Bermond.

Various
Eporediese Chess Society Bellavista.
Corsa Ivrea-Mombarone: every year around mid-September and for more than thirty years, an uphill race has been held which, starting from the square in Ivrea at 271 m a.s.l., climbs along the slopes of Mombarone up to its top at 2371 m (therefore with a total height difference of 2100 metres).