Vercelli

Vercelli (Italian Ausspr. ? / I, Vërsèj Piedmontese ) is a city in the Italian region Piedmont with 46 393 inhabitants ( 31 December 2012). It is the capital of the homonymous province.

• 8.1 Sons and daughters of the town
• 8.2 associated with the city of personalities

Geography

The city lies at an altitude of 130 meters above sea level and stretches over an area of 79 square km are.

History

Origins - Antique

In the time of the Roman Empire the city was called Vercellae. Already in the 10th century BC there was a Celtic settlement. To the south of the present city won the battle of Gaius Marius against the Cimbri Vercellae in the year 101 BC on the Raudischen fields. At the beginning of the imperial period, the town was fortified. In late antiquity, the city was significant because of their size and the most important center of Nizäner in northern Italy.

Middle Ages

Vercelli was very early bishopric. The first bishop was the legendary Eusebius of Vercelli. In the Middle Ages Vercelli was important bishopric also due to its strategic location in advance of a major mountain pass. During the time of the Lombards V. was the seat of a duke, and had the right to mint gold coins. The bishops Atto of Vercelli and Leo of Vercelli were able to expand the power position of their city by royal privileges and defend successfully against various attacks of their opponents (led by the Marquis Arduin of Ivrea ) in the 10th and 11th centuries. Power struggles within the clergy in the second half of the 11th century weakened the position of the Church in the city. In the middle of the 12th century Vercelli was converted into an independent republic, which was involved in the Lombard league of cities. In Vercelli, the first university in the Piedmont was built in 1228. Power struggles within the urban fractions completed in the second half of the 13th century, the heyday of the city. In the 14th century the city was under the power of the Visconti family, but they had in 1427 finally ceded to the Duchy of Savoy.

Modern Times

Vercelli is considered the largest trade center for rice in Europe. There are also the Istituto Sperimentale di Risicoltura di Vercelli had its seat, which is about 50 years from 1912 to 1952 on a monthly basis the specificity of Baraggia and locally grown rice in the journal " Giornale di Risicoltura " described. In 1952, this journal has been replaced by the publication " Il Riso " by the Italian rice Authority ( Ente Nazionale Risi) is issued. In Vercelli is a well-known women's prison.

Traffic

In Vercelli cross the A26 and A4, are on the Turin, Milan and Alessandria easy to reach. Several highways connect Vercelli with the places in the vicinity. Vercelli is on the railway routes Turin - Milan, Pavia and Vercelli Vercelli Valenza. The city has a small airfield for general aviation. The nearest airports are Turin and Milan -Malpensa.

Coat of arms

Blazon: " Argent, a continuous red beams cross. "

The large coat of arms shows above the shield a golden, inside red mural crown from a two-story wall and five dreizinnigen conical round towers, each with a black portal and two black windows one above the other, the right of a laurel branch, edged left by an oak branch in natural colors, both with a band in the Italian national colors tied together and topped with a silver currency band on the motto: POTIUS MORI QUAM FOEDARI - BETTER tO DIE THAN BE dishonored

Monuments

• The Basilica of Sant'Andrea to 1224, is the most significant work of the Romanesque-Gothic transition style in northern Italy. The building is outside Romanesque, early Gothic interior. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on February 12, 1219, in 1227 the church was completed. This build speed The community owes its high financial resources. The architect is unknown. It is one of the first Gothic conceptions of space on Italian soil. Cloister: From the construction of the 13th century still date the Crochet - capitals; the round arches and vaults were replaced at the beginning of the 16th century in the Renaissance style. The free-standing Campanile dates from the 15th century.

• The Duomo S. Eusebio dates from the period around 1572. Lobby is classical. Nothing remains from the Romanesque building.

Sports

The football club Pro Vercelli took a total of seven Italian titles. His most famous player was, from 1930 to 1934, Silvio Piola (called " Eagle of Vercelli " ), later the center forward of the Squadra Azzurra during the World Cup 1938 and the so-called " inventor of the overhead kick ."

Twinning

Twin cities of Vercelli are in Provence (France) and since 2003 Tortosa in Catalonia (Spain ) since 1970 Arles. With the English city of Ely in the east of the county of Cambridgeshire, there is a treaty of friendship.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the town

• Alberto Barberis (* 1883, † unknown), football player
• Bertinetti Marcello (1885-1967), fencer and two -time Olympic champion and football player and coach (* 1885)
• Emilia Bicchieri (1238-1314), a Dominican, prioress, mystic and Blessed
• Eusebius of Vercelli ( 283-371 ), bishop and saint
• Giuseppe Cavanna (1905-1976), football goalkeeper
• Pietro Ferraris (1912-1991), football player
• Vittorio Ghidella (1931-2011), managing director of Fiat Auto division
• Virginio Rosetta (1902-1975), football player and coach
• Sodoma (1477-1549), painter
• Francesco Antonio Vallotti (1697-1780), composer, music theorist and organist

Associated with the city of personalities

• Filippo Juvarra (1676-1736), architect