Novara (Nuara in the Novara dialect and in the western Lombard
dialect, Noara in Piedmontese) is an Italian town of 104181
inhabitants, the capital of the province of the same name in
Piedmont, the second largest city in the Region by number of
inhabitants after Turin. It is a crossroads of important commercial
traffic between the road axes that connect the Turin-Milan-Genoa
industrial triangle to Switzerland.
It is an important
industrial and commercial center favored by its strategic position.
The city's symbol is the dome of the
Basilica of San Gaudenzio by Alessandro Antonelli.
The
University of Eastern Piedmont is located in Novara, a tripolar
structure shared with Alessandria and Vercelli.
The historic center of the city has an almost pentagonal shape and is
largely surrounded by "bulwarks", tree-lined avenues that have taken the
place of the ancient walls that surrounded the city.
The two main
arteries are Corso Cavour-Corso Mazzini, with a north-south direction,
and Corso Italia-Corso Cavallotti, with an east-west direction,
corresponding to the layout of the ancient Roman Cardo and Decumanus.
The ancient city nucleus
of Novara, almost pentagonal in shape, is located on a modest hilly
relief (today the Historic Center, seat of the district of the same
name) and still retains for the most part, despite the heavy
tampering in a modern key and the many neoclassical architectures ,
the ancient medieval layout with cobbled streets and small squares
(piazza delle Erbe and piazza della Repubblica).
In ancient
times the city was equipped with a wall with a perimeter of 2200
meters, raised at the end of the 1st century AD. during the imperial
age. Partially destroyed in 1110, the walls were subsequently
rebuilt and finally demolished at the beginning of the twentieth
century to allow city development. Two sections of the ancient Roman
walls, unearthed after archaeological excavations, are visible today
at Largo Cavour and in the green area behind the Gallarini
Conservatory, between via Solaroli and via Dominioni. They appear to
have been made with the opus mixtum technique using river pebbles
linked together with mortar, placed flat and interspersed with low
horizontal brick bands.
After their demolition, the walls
gave way to the current bulwarks, large tree-lined avenues that
surround the historic center.
As a Roman municipality, the
road network of Novara was also characterized by a cardo and a
decumanus which correspond, the first to the current Corso Cavour
and Corso Mazzini (formerly Corso di Porta Sempione) and the second
to Corso Italia (formerly Corso di Porta Torino ) and Corso
Cavallotti (formerly Corso di Porta Milano). The two roads meet in
the so-called Corner of the Hours.
The most famous monument in Novara is the basilica of San
Gaudenzio, built between the late sixteenth and early seventeenth
centuries, and characterized by the imposing neoclassical pinnacle
dome (121 meters high) designed by Alessandro Antonelli and added to
the body of the church in the second half of the nineteenth century.
century, considered by many to be the tallest brick in the world.
Of particular interest is also the bell tower by Benedetto
Alfieri (uncle of the more famous Vittorio Alfieri) and above all,
inside the church, the Polyptych by Gaudenzio Ferrari.
The
center of the city's religious life is the imposing Cathedral, in
neoclassical style, also designed by Alessandro Antonelli and built
in the mid-nineteenth century by demolishing the pre-existing
Romanesque cathedral (it stands in the same spot where the temple of
Jupiter once stood) , of which the lower part of the bell tower
still belong, the Cloister of the Canonica and the Oratory of San
Siro.
Opposite the Cathedral is the Baptistery, the oldest
building in the city still existing and one of the oldest early
Christian architecture in Piedmont.
Not far from the Duomo is
the courtyard (or Arengo) of the Broletto, the ancient center of the
political life of Novara, a free municipality. It is an
architectural complex consisting of four historic buildings arranged
in a quadrilateral, built in different eras with materials and
decorative elements not consistent with each other, which overlook
the central courtyard: the Palazzo del Comune (XII century) to the
north, the Palazzo dei Paratici (12th century) to the west, the
Palazzo del Podestà to the south and the Palazzo dei Referendari to
the east (both late 14th-early 15th century).
The Broletto was
also the seat of the prisons, then of the artisan guilds and today
houses the civic museums, with art collections and archaeological
finds from the history of Novara and the Giannoni Modern Art
Gallery, which has been undergoing restoration for many years, a
collection of paintings and sculptures of the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries.
Not far from Piazza della Repubblica
(formerly Piazza Duomo) is the triangular and characteristic Piazza
Cesare Battisti (better known by the Novarese as Piazza delle Erbe).
It constitutes the perfect center of the city of Novara which is
indicated by a small triangular tile on the pavement, recognizable
because it is different from the others that make up the pavement of
the square.
In the square named after Giacomo Matteotti there
is Palazzo Natta-Isola, seat of the Province and the Prefecture,
characterized by the beautiful Clock Tower, while in the nearby via
Fratelli Rosselli is Palazzo Cabrino, seat of the administrative
offices of the Municipality.
The largest square is Piazza
Martiri della Libertà (formerly Piazza Castello, later Piazza
Vittorio Emanuele II), dominated by the equestrian statue dedicated
to Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of Italy, crowned in Novara.
The Visconteo-Sforzesco Castle, the work of the Milanese lords, the
current venue for events and art exhibitions, and the Coccia
Theater, the most historic theater in Piedmont, overlook Piazza
Martiri. The Castle, once much larger than the complex that remains
today, is surrounded by the Alea, one of the largest public gardens
in Novara.
Other important squares are:
Piazza Cavour,
dominated by the statue of the same name and restored between the
1990s and the 2000s.
piazza Garibaldi, the square of the Novara
station, also restored, characterized by the statue of the same
name, by that of the mondina and by a fountain.
piazza Gramsci,
formerly piazza del Rosario, which houses, after the restoration in
2005, the particular statue of Icarus.
piazza Puccini, located
between the east side of the Coccia Theater and the entrance to the
Canonica. It houses the statue of Carlo Emanuele III, the first
Savoy ruler to rule Novara.
In
addition to the Cathedral and the Basilica of San Gaudenzio, the
main churches of the city are:
Chiesa di Ognissanti (early
12th century), is the only surviving Romanesque church in the city,
already mentioned in 1124. It is a simple construction with three
naves, with four bays each, a choir with a semicircular apse and an
elegant and valuable lantern. octagonal illuminated by single and
mullioned windows. Inside there are traces of 15th century frescoes,
including a Madonna del Latte attributed to Giovanni de Campo. The
current appearance is the result of the restorations carried out in
the fifties which eliminated the heavy adaptations of the Baroque
era, bringing the building back to its original Romanesque style.
Abbey of San Nazzaro della Costa (1441-1470), a complex consisting
of the homonymous church together with the adjoining convent,
already documented in 1124 and remodeled in the fifteenth century at
the behest of San Bernardino da Siena. It stands on a hill near the
city cemetery, beyond the ramparts.
Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, better known as the church of
San Martino (second half of the fifteenth century), built starting
from 1477 by the Lateran canons, it is internally made up of a
single nave with side chapels and paintings attributable to artists
of the fifteenth century, including Tommaso Cagnola and Daniele De
Bosis. In one of the frescoes the humanist Paolo Maffei is
represented.
Church of San Pietro al Rosario (1599-1618), located
in Piazza Gramsci was the Novara seat of the Dominican Order before
the Napoleonic suppressions. Internally it has a single nave with
six side chapels. It preserves some important works such as the
statue of the Madonna del latte, dating back to the fifteenth
century but obtained from a pre-existing Roman monument, the Virgin
of the Rosary by Giulio Cesare Procaccini (1625) and the cycle of
frescoes on the life of San Pietro di Giovanni Mauro Della Rovere
(1637).
Church of San Marco (17th century), built to a design by
Lorenzo Binago starting from 1607. It preserves important works from
the 17th and 18th centuries by artists such as Giulio Cesare
Procaccini, Daniele Crespi and Moncalvo, as well as refined carving
works which are the confessionals and the pulpit. In 1634 it was
joined by a convent, the current seat of the Bank of Italy.
Church-Oratory of San Giovanni Decollato (1637-1657), seat of the
brotherhood of San Giovanni Battista Decollato.
Church of Santa
Maria della Salute (17th century), in Baroque style is located in
the Bicocca district. Completed in 1658, it was built on the site of
a small chapel dedicated to the Madonna and Child (called "degli
Spagnoli") which today constitutes the altarpiece.
Church of
Sant'Eufemia (1666-1698).
Chiesa del Carmine (XVIII-XIX century),
located near the basilica of San Gaudenzio, has the oldest
Romanesque bell tower in the province.
Arengo del Broletto (XII-XV century).
Casa Della Porta and Casa
Rognoni (second half of the 15th century), in Gothic style.
Palazzo Tornielli-Bellini (early 16th century), has been the
headquarters of the Banca Popolare di Novara since 1905.
Palazzo
Natta (16th century), building attributed to Pellegrino Tibaldi,
extensively remodeled in the 19th century with the raising of a
floor, today houses the offices of the provincial administration and
the prefecture. The grand staircase of honor leading to the upper
floor, the frescoes in the halls on the first floor and the internal
courtyard enclosed by Doric columns stand out. At the left corner
stands the civic clock tower of medieval origin.
Maggiore
Hospital of Charity in Novara, built starting from 1628 and enlarged
in the following centuries by various architects including
Alessandro Antonelli, in the mid-nineteenth century.
Palazzo
Cabrino (1661-1664 and later centuries), now the seat of the city
administration, was a noble palace built in the Baroque style by the
Cabrino family. Some rooms on the first floor are decorated with
eighteenth-century frescoes by Giovanni Stefano Danedi.
Barriera
Albertina (1837), a complex of two identical neoclassical buildings,
on a single floor, placed symmetrically opposite each other. It is
located at the end of the ancient royal road coming from Vercelli,
the current viale XX Settembre, and was the western gateway to the
city (formerly Porta Torino). The construction was carried out by
demolishing the ancient entrance tower [4]. The buildings,
originally intended for guard and duty offices, were designed by
Antonio Agnelli and inaugurated in 1837; they are quadrangular in
shape enriched by a pronaos with six Gothic columns; the tympanum is
decorated with allegorical statues, sculpted by Giuseppe Argenti,
depicting virtues or civic activities.
Palazzo del Mercato
(1817-1842), the work of the architect Luigi Orelli, was the seat of
the forum for the trading of grains and today the seat of the
Agricultural Exchange. It is a square-plan building of simple
architecture, enriched by a loggia running along all sides. It
stands on the northern side of Piazza Martiri but the main facade is
the one facing Corso Italia, characterized by two flights of stairs
and a pediment decorated with a sandstone and marble high relief.
Palace of the Guard Corps, located on the western side of Piazza
della Repubblica, next to the baptistery of the cathedral, is so
called because it was the seat of the troops of the urban police. It
was built starting from 1835, on a project by the architect Aresi,
and inaugurated on November 4, 1837.
Novara railway station
(1854).
Casa Bossi (19th century), large manor house designed by
Alessandro Antonelli.
Gallarini College (19th century), houses
the “Guido Cantelli” Music Conservatory.
Coccia Theater (late 19th century), inaugurated on 22 December
1888. The current building stands on the remains of the 18th century
Morelli theater (later dedicated to Carlo Coccia), demolished to
allow for the new construction, the work of architect Giuseppe
Oliverio. In addition to illustrious personalities such as Arturo
Toscanini and the late Guido Cantelli, in more recent years it has
hosted the television program Bravo Bravissimo, conducted by Mike
Bongiorno. Even today it is a popular theater of Tradition, which
hosts high-level opera seasons.
Casa Quaroni, built between 1905
and 1907 on a project by the engineer Mario Rosina, a relative of
Otto Wagner. Emblematic testimony of liberty architecture in Novara.
Casa Fiorentini, built between 1907 and 1910 on a project by the
engineer Roberto Passeri, stands at the corner of via XX Settembre
and via Dante Alighieri and represents one of the most interesting
examples of Novara liberty architecture. The façade, surmounted by
three balconies full of ornaments, is located in the corner area and
follows a curvilinear course. The external decoration is of
considerable value and visual impact.
Palazzo "Renzo Piano",
designed by the Genoese architect's studio and built between 1985
and 1987, is located in the Sant'Agabio district, east of the
historic center. Originally conceived as the seat for the
Experimental Light Metals Institute, it now belongs to the Province
of Novara and is the seat of the Novara Development Foundation and
hosts the Novara Scientific Technological Center. The complex is
made up of two buildings: the main 3-storey office building rises
along the road and extends for a length of 85 meters; the structure
is composed of an aluminum profile stiffened by reticular elements
in order to make the most of the potential of this material; the
continuous modular facade is made with the glazing simply glued and
not mechanically fixed to the structure. After the inner courtyard
is the secondary building, intended as a workshop, clad frontally
and on the north side with a ribbed steel sheet.
Visconteo-Sforzesco Castle (XIII-XV century).
Casalgiate Castle (XV century), rises in the center of the
homonymous locality to the west of the city, it was probably built
in 1470 on the remains of a previous castle destroyed by the White
Company in the years 1361-63. It has an irregular four-sided plan
with an internal courtyard, it is still partially surrounded by a
moat and partially by a garden. The entrance is located at the base
of a tower on the southern side where the coat of arms of the
Avogadro family, to which the castle belonged for a long time, is
visible. The property passed in 1779 to the Ospedale Maggiore in
Novara which today owns half of it together with a private
individual. It is currently in a state of neglect.
Other
monuments
The Ossario della Bicocca, with a characteristic
pyramid shape, stands in the homonymous district in memory of the
fallen in the historic battle of 23 March 1849 between the
Piedmontese and the Austrians.
Museums of the
rectory of the cathedral
Civic museums, housed in the Palazzo del
Broletto
Faraggiana Ferrandi Natural History Museum
Museum of
the Risorgimento
By plane
The main airports of reference are the following:
Milan Malpensa International Airport - Terminal 1: 32 km
Milan
Malpensa International Airport - Terminal 2: 35 km
By car
The
city is served by two toll booths along the A4 Turin-Trieste motorway:
Novara Ovest (8 km from the centre), for those coming from Turin;
Novara Est (6 km from the centre), for those coming from Milan.
It
can also be reached from the A26 Genova Voltri-Gravellona Toce motorway
from the toll booth:
Vercelli east (15 km from the centre), for
those coming from Genoa.
For those coming from Gravellona Toce it is
advisable to take a stretch of the A4 to the Novara Ovest exit.
Novara is partially surrounded by a ring road which connects the State
Road 32 of Lake Maggiore (towards Arona) to the north, with the State
Road 11 (towards Turin) to the south-west of the city. The Strada
Statale 11 also connects Milan with Novara.
Traffic restrictions
Since February 2013, a driving ban has been in force for all petrol
vehicles that do not comply with at least the Euro 2 standard and for
diesel vehicles that are lower than the Euro 3 standard. The ban applies
from Monday to Friday in the time slots 8.30-12.30 and 14.30 -18.30.
Motorists can leave their car in one of the free interchange car parks
located on the outskirts of the city and continue by public transport.
On boat
The closest passenger port is that of Genoa, about 150 km
away.
On the train
Novara is served by two railway stations:
Novara FS which has the Turin–Milan, Alessandria–Arona, Biella–Novara,
Novara–Domodossola, Novara–Oleggio and Novara–Varallo lines (currently
suspended).
Novara Nord, end station of the Novara–Milan Cadorna
line.
There is also a third station in the Vignale district used only
for local trains along the Novara-Arona line.
By bus
Troiolo
Bus, Corso Garibaldi, 185 - Siderno, ☎ +39 0964 381325, fax: +39 0964
381325, info@troiolobus.com. The company allows the direct connection of
Novara with Africo, Ardore, Badolato, Bianco, Bovalino, Brancaleone,
Catanzaro, Catanzaro Lido, Caulonia, Davoli, Guardavalle, Isca
sull'Ionio, Lamezia Terme, Locri, Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, Monasterace,
Montepaone, Polistena, Riace, Roccella Jonica, Rosarno, Sant'Andrea
Apostolo dello Jonio, Santa Caterina, Siderno, Soverato, Squillace,
Taurianova and Vibo Valentia; not all connections are daily.
By public transport
SUN S.p.A (Public transport company of the
city of Novara), Via P. Generali 25, ☎ +39 0321 482811, fax: +39 0321
482890, info@sun.novara.it. €1.20.
Line 1: Olengo - Bicocca - Veveri
- Cameri
Line 2: San Rocco - Via Chinotto
Line 4:
Galliate/Romentino - Pernate - Station - V. Ancona
Line 5: V.
dell'Artigianato - C.so Torino - V. Perrone - Station - V.
dell'Artigianato
Line 6: Quartara T. - Station - Vignale - Bonfantini
Line 8: Lumellogno - Via Ancona - Station - Via Casorati - Cerano -
Sozzago
Line C: Station - V. Generali - V. Adamello - Cemetery -
Station
SP Line: Casalgiate - S. Pietro Mosezzo - Station
Green
Shuttle: Viale Verdi - Piazza Cavour - Viale Verdi
By taxi
Radio Taxi Novara Cooperative, Via Ettore Bossi, 16/a, ☎ +39 0321
691999, fax: +39 0321 691999, info@radiotaxinovara.it. edit
Novara
city taxi, Piazza Garibaldi, 1, ☎ +39 0321 611755.
Modest prices
1 Sesiko, Via dei Tornielli, 2, ☎ +39 0321 35793.
Japanese restaurant.
2 Le Grandi Volte, Via dei Tornielli, 9, ☎ +39
0321 33324. Self-service restaurant.
3 Focacceria Al10 pizzeria,
Corso Giuseppe Mazzini, 10, ☎ +39 0321 628086.
McDonald's Novara
Sporting, Piazzale Giuseppe Fortina 1, ☎ +39 0321 697468. Mon-Sun:
07:00-22:00.
McDonald's Novara San Martino 2, Via Ugo Porzio
Giovanola 7 (in the San Martino 2 Shopping Center), ☏ +39 0321 455720.
Sun-Fri: 08:00-21:30; Sat: 08:00-22:30.
Average prices
4 Alibi
restaurant, Via Paolo Solaroli, 68, ☎ +39 0321 393584.
5 Universo
Vegano, Corso Giuseppe Mazzini, 8A, ☎ +39 0321 625136. Vegan restaurant.
6 Pizzeria restaurant A'Marechiaro, Via Fratelli Rosselli, 11, ☎ +39
0321 620237.
7 Centro pizzeria restaurant, Corso Felice Cavallotti,
9D, ☎ +39 0321 623232.
8 Il Broletto Food & Drink, Via Fratelli
Rosselli, 20, ☎ +39 373 7485216.
9 Subway, Corso Italia, 24.
Bulgarian restaurant.
10 Antica Osteria Ai Vini Restaurant, Largo
Cavallazzi, 4, ☎ +39 0321 34346.
11 Hostaria I 2 Ladroni, Corso
Felice Cavallotti, 15, ☎ +39 0321 624581.
12 Trattoria Cavallino
Bianco, Vicolo Arco, 2, ☎ +39 0321 393908.
13 Nuova Santa Lucia
Pizzeria, Via Cesare Magnani Ricotti, 15, ☎ +39 339 7436352.
14 La
Locanda delle Due Suocere, Corso Trieste, 42, ☎ +39 0321 032310.
Modest prices
1 Hotel Ristorante Cavallo Bianco, Corso della
Vittoria, 6B, ☎ +39 0321 35633. Two stars.
2 Hotel Station, Viale
Alessandro Manzoni, 4C, ☎ +39 0321 623256.
Average prices
3
Hotel Croce di Malta, Via Biglieri 2/a, ☎ +39 0321 32032. Three stars.
4 Hotel Residence Matteotti, Largo Buscaglia Carlo, 11A, ☎ +39 392
7876095.
High prices
5 Bella Italia Palace Hotel, Largo
Donegani, 6, ☎ +39 0321 694346. Four stars.
6 Hotel Europa, Corso
Felice Cavallotti, 38, ☎ +39 0321 35801. Four stars.
7 Hotel Cavour,
Via S. Francesco D'Assisi, 6, ☎ +39 0321 659889. Four stars.
Pharmacies
1 Invernizzi, Corso Italia, 42, ☎ +39 0321 629885.
2
Episcopal, Via Omar Giuseppe, 19, ☎ +39 0321 623388.
3 Agnelli, Corso
Felice Cavallotti, 2A.
4 Mazzini, Corso Giuseppe Mazzini, 16, ☎ +39
0321 399513.
5 Fanello, Corso Cavour, 7, ☎ +39 0321 612363.
6
Chiabrera, Piazza Cavour, 7, ☎ +39 0321 611077.
7 Nigri, Corso
Risorgimento, 33, ☎ +39 0321 477767.
8 Galli, Via Pietro Micca, 52, ☎
+39 0321 611370.
9 Fanchiotti, Via Andrea Costa, 1, ☎ +39 0321
612382.
Novara is 45 km as the crow flies or 50 km by car from Milan (15 km
from the border with the Lombardy region, where the Ticino river marks
the border between the two regions), 85 km as the crow flies or 95 km by
car from Turin, 35 km from Lake Maggiore, 45 km from Lake Orta, 70 km
from Lake Varese.
The city stands on a small hill and is bathed
by the Agogna and Terdoppio streams which cross the western and eastern
periphery of the city respectively. The north-eastern area is crossed by
the Quintino Sella Canal, an emissary of the Cavour Canal which in turn
flows to the northern border of the city, near the districts of Veveri
and Vignale. The Arbogna torrent has its sources near the Bicocca
district.
The landscape of the Novara irrigation plain is
characterized and strongly conditioned by rice cultivation, deeply
anthropized and regulated for production purposes, the result of the
centuries-old reclamation and transformation work which has determined
the morphological simplification of the territory, leveled and terraced
even on the modest hills, and the presence of a dense irrigation
network, with canals, irrigation ditches, ditches, springs.
The
city center rises a few meters above the surrounding area, at the
highest point of a ridge of fluvial-glacial origin, the last moraine
offshoot of the Alpine glaciers, which slopes gently southwards as far
as Vespolate (Arbogna Valley).
In addition to the cultivation of
poplars, mainly in rows, there are residues of wooded areas along the
watercourses.
Unlike other cities in Northern Italy, leaving
Novara, the gap between the end of the town and the beginning of the
countryside is very clear.
Novara has a temperate humid climate typical of the Po Valley, with cold and foggy winters (the minimum temperatures are close to zero between December and February) and hot and muggy summers (it is very frequent that the maximum daily temperature exceeds 30 degrees from June to September). The rainfall is greater than in the rest of the Piedmont plains and was equal to almost 1000 mm until 2010, but since 2020 it has decreased to about 850 mm. The seasonal snow average of the area was about 35 cm during the winter season now reduced to about 15 cm. These reductions are caused by climate change which has accentuated in the last decade: rainy days have in fact been drastically reduced, alternating periods of extreme drought with violent and abundant storms. The rainfall regime is characterized by two maxima (a main one in May with 127 mm, a secondary one in October with 110 mm) and two minima (main one in December with 50 mm, secondary one in July with 55 mm). In the period from 2000 to 2022, the driest year was 2005 (641.0 mm), the wettest 2014 (1750 mm). Summer and late spring rains tend to be more frequent than in the Piedmont capitals located south of the Po line, given that Novara is slightly more exposed to the summer Atlantic instabilities that regularly cross the Alps. According to data from the Torrion Geophysical Observatory Quartara, whose meteorological archive dates back to August 1999, the average annual temperature of the 21st century is attested at 13.9 °C. The extremes were recorded on February 7, 2012 (−17.6 °C) and June 27, 2019 (37.3 °C). For the characteristics described up to now and for the high atmospheric pollution, Novara, together with Pavia and Vercelli, has the worst climate quality index in Italy, also based on a recent analysis of historical climatic data collected starting from 1875 the province of Novara appears to be one of the Italian territories most affected by climate change: the increase in average temperature over the last one hundred and fifty years has in fact been equal to two degrees, or double that of one degree recorded on average in the other Italian provinces.
Historically, the city was founded around the year 89 BC. as a colony
under Latin law, on the occasion of the granting of Latin citizenship to
the Celtic tribes of Gallia Transpadana. In the imperial age Novaria was
an important municipium and was located on the road between Vercellae
(Vercelli) and Mediolanum (Milan). Its layout with perpendicular streets
(which has remained intact) dates back to Roman times. After the city
was destroyed in 386 by Magnus Maximus for having sided with his rival
Valentinian II, it was rebuilt by Theodosius I. It was later sacked by
Radagaisus (in 405) and by Attila (in 452).
From Novaria, the
Latin name of Novara, began the via Novaria-Comum, a Roman road that
connected the city with Comum (Como) passing through Sibrium
(Castelseprio). In Roman times, the Via delle Gallie also passed through
Novara, a Roman consular road built by Augustus to connect the Po Valley
with Gaul.
During the domination of the Longobards Novara was
part of the Duchy of San Giulio. With Carlo il Grosso the Novara area
became a county. The city developed, then becoming a free municipality.
In 1110 it was conquered by Henry V and destroyed, in 1167 it was part
of the Lombard League. Between the end of the 12th and the beginning of
the 13th century, the Municipality of Novara secured control of a large
part of the Novara area, with the exception of the episcopal enclave of
the Riviera di San Giulio. At the end of the 12th century it accepted
the protection of Milan and thus became the domain of the Visconti and
then of the Sforza. During the so-called Italian Wars, the city was the
protagonist of two sieges: the first in 1495 and the second in 1500.
In 1706 Novara was occupied by the troops of the Savoy. With the
Peace of Utrecht, the city, together with Milan, became part of the
Habsburg Empire. After the occupation of 1734 by Carlo Emanuele III, the
following year, it passed to the House of Savoy.
After Napoleon
Bonaparte's campaign in Italy, Novara was the capital of the Department
of Agogna, only to be reassigned to the House of Savoy in 1814. On 8
April 1821, it was the site of a battle in which regular Sardinian and
Austrian troops defeated the constitutional liberals Piedmontese; in the
even more terrible Battle of Novara on 23 March 1849, the Piedmontese
army was defeated by the Austrians of marshal Radetzky; this fact led to
the abdication of Carlo Alberto di Savoia and to the occupation of the
city by the Austrians. The defeat of the Piedmontese can be seen as the
beginning of the Italian Risorgimento.
With Royal Decree No. 3702
of 23 October 1859 ("Rattazzi Decree"), the province of Novara was
established, which at the time also included the current provinces of
Vercelli, Biella and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola.
The oldest assessment of the city population dates back to 1723, with a total of 8,963 registered inhabitants, of which 5,590 inside the walls and 3,373 in the suburbs. In 1776, the population had risen to 11,092 inhabitants of which 7,003 were inside the walls and 4,089 in the suburbs, then it reached 12,465 inhabitants in 1804 and 14,021 in 1826. In the following years, the population almost doubled which will be equal to 25 144 inhabitants recorded during the first national census of 1861. From this date the population growth is constant and in 1911 the city has 53 657 inhabitants. Subsequently, in the period between the two wars, growth suffered a setback, with a slight recovery which brought the number of citizens to 69,935 in 1951. In the 1950s and 1960s, citizenship returned to vigorous growth, reaching 1971 around 100,000 inhabitants, a figure that will remain almost unchanged until 2021.
In the ranking drawn up by Italia Oggi in collaboration with La
Sapienza University in 2022 Novara ranks 50th for quality of life out of
107 Italian provincial capitals. On the other hand, according to the
Urban Ecosystem report by Legambiente, the city of Novara ranks 47th.
Finally, according to the dossier on the quality of life in Italy by Il
Sole 24 Ore, Novara in 2022 is 39th in the standings. The best position
recorded by Novara for quality of life according to Il Sole 24 Ore dates
back to 2000 (15th place) while the worst dates back to 2014 (66th).
After the 2009-2018 period which saw Novara position itself in the lower
part of the ranking, the city has regained positions since 2019.
In the ranking of "Recycling Municipalities", the waste collection and
recycling agencies of the middle and lower Novara area are respectively
in 13th and 18th place among the waste management consortia with over
100,000 inhabitants.
The city of Novara is home to the De Agostini Geographical Institute, which celebrated its centenary in 2001.
Chapter Library of Santa Maria
Carlo Negroni Civic Library, the
second largest civic library in Piedmont
Library of the De Agostini
geographical institute, founded in 1977
San Gaudenzio Episcopal
Seminary Library, founded in 1788
Library of the Diocesan Historical
Archive
Art library of the civic museums, founded in 1874
Library
of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Amedeo Avogadro University
of Eastern Piedmont, founded in 1993
Library of the Guido Cantelli
State Conservatory of Music
Ascanio Sobrero Library of the Department
of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the Amedeo Avogadro University of Eastern
Piedmont
Library of the Historical Institute of the Piero Fornara
Resistance
The city is home to the University of Eastern Piedmont together with
Vercelli and Alessandria. Four of the eight Departments that make up the
University are located in Novara:
Department of Health Sciences
Department of Translational Medicine
Department of Pharmaceutical
Sciences
Department of Economics and Business Studies
Furthermore,
it is home to the Interdepartmental Center for Emergency Medicine,
Disasters and Information Technology Applied to Medical Practice and
Teaching (CRIMEDIM) and the School of Medicine is active, which has the
objective of coordinating the teaching and research activity carried out
by Departments of Translational Medicine and Health Sciences at the
"Maggiore della Carità" university hospital.
Despite being
recently established (1998), the University of Eastern Piedmont reached
14,761 students enrolled as of 15 December 2020. According to the annual
ranking drawn up by Censis, UPO ranks twelfth in Italy among the sixteen
medium-sized universities. Both the Department of Health Sciences and
the Department of Translational Medicine were selected by MIUR in 2018
as two of the 180 Italian departments of excellence.
Local press
Corriere di Novara, independent biweekly of local
information
Prima Novara, online newspaper
Tribuna Novarese's
Friday, weekly local information via the web
Novara Oggi, local
information weekly
La Voce di Novara online newspaper (since
September 2017)
L'Azione, weekly magazine of the Diocese of Novara
Novaratoday, local section of the online head .today
La Stampa
Novara, local section of the national newspaper of the same name
The patronal feast of San Gaudenzio is celebrated on 22 January each
year. The celebration is a ritual that dates back to the 15th century:
it begins with the civic procession that passes through the streets of
the center up to the Basilica of San Gaudenzio where the "flower
ceremony" takes place and then the solemn Eucharistic liturgy. During
the flower ceremony, a large chandelier is lowered from the ceiling of
the church and the metal flowers that compose it are replaced with
others carried in procession by the municipal valets, in memory of the
miracle performed by San Gaudenzio who, to pay homage to the visiting he
would make the flowers in his garden bloom in January. Throughout the
day it is possible to visit the saint's tomb in the basilica's darkroom
and buy the typical "Marroni di Cuneo": smoked chestnuts, pierced and
tied together.
The historical re-enactment of the Battle of Bicocca,
fought in 1849, takes place on 23 March each year, with period costumes
and weapons.
The Street Games, a sporting event held on the streets
of the city in June. Composed of beach volleyball, basketball, soccer
tournaments and much more.
Novara Jazz, international jazz music festival which takes place
between the end of May and the beginning of June, with the participation
of internationally renowned musicians (Michael Nyman, Dick Hyman, Trilok
Gurtu, Paul D. Miller aka dj Spooky, Fabrizio Bosso, Gianluigi Trovesi,
Ill Considered, Enrico Rava, John Surman, Marcin Wasilewski Trio) but
also of DJs, visual artists and performers.
Novara Gospel Festival,
held every year since 2005 in the period September-October, consists of
workshops, tours of the area and concerts. Well-known contemporary
gospel music artists including Kirk Franklin, Donnie Mc Clurkin, Richard
Smallwood participate in the event.
Novara Reading Week, promoted by
the Negroni Civic Library with the advice of the Novara Center for
Literary Studies, draws attention to books through themes or characters
treated from various angles (literature, art, cinema, theatre): from war
to water, from Mario Soldati to Emilio Salgari.
Writers&Youths, an
international literary festival launched in 2006 with the original
formula of distributing free copies of writers' books in schools before
meetings. Authors such as Luis Sepúlveda, David Grossman, Daniel Pennac,
Adonis, Sebastiano Vassalli, Carlo Lucarelli have been guests in the
various editions of the festival.