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| Name | Vercelli |
|---|---|
| Official name | Città di Vercelli |
| Image shield | Vercelli-Stemma.png |
| Coordinates display | title |
| Region | Piedmont |
| Province | Vercelli (VC) |
| Mayor | Andrea Corsaro |
| Area total km2 | 79.85 |
| Population total | 47220 |
| Population as of | 30 April 2009 |
| Population demonym | Vercellesi |
| Elevation m | 130 |
| Saint | Eusebius of Vercelli |
| Day | August 1 |
| Postal code | 13100 |
| Area code | 0161 |
| Website |
Vercelli (Vërsej in Piedmontese) is a city and comune of about 47,000 inhabitants in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around the year 600 BC.
The city is situated on the river Sesia in the plain of the river Po between Milan and Turin. It is an important centre for the cultivation of rice, and is surrounded by paddy fields, which are flooded in summer. The climate is typical of the Po Valley with cold, foggy winters (0.4°C in January) and oppressive heat during the summer months (23.45°C in July). Rainfall is most prevalent during the spring and autumn; thunderstorms are common in the summer.
The world's first university funded by public money was established in Vercelli in 1228. Today it has a university of literature and philosophy as a part of the Università del Piemonte Orientale and a satellite campus of the Politecnico di Torino.
Imperial magister militum Flavius Stilicho annihilated the Goths there 500 years later. It was half ruined in St. Jerome's time (olim potens, nunc raro habitatore semiruta (1, 3.1)). After the Lombard invasion it belonged to the Duchy of Ivrea. From 885 it was under the jurisdiction of the prince-bishop, who was a Count of the Empire.
It became an independent commune in 1120, and joined the first and second Lombard leagues. Its statutes are among the most interesting of those of the medieval republics. In 1197 they abolished the servitude of the glebe. In 1228 the University of Pavia was transferred to Vercelli, where it remained till the fourteenth century, but without gaining much prominence; only a university school of law has been maintained.
During the troubles of the 13th century it fell into the power of the Della Torre of Milan (1263), of the Marquesses of Monferrato (1277), who appointed Matteo I Visconti captain (1290–1299). The Tizzoni (Ghibellines) and Avogadri (Guelphs) disputed the city from 1301 to 1334, the latter party being expelled several times, thus enabling the Marquess of Monferrato to take Vercelli (1328), which voluntarily placed itself under the Viscount of Milan in 1334. In 1373 Bishop Giovanni Fieschi expelled the Visconti, but Matteo reconquered the city. Facino Cane (1402), profiting by the strife between Giovanni Maria and Filippo Maria Visconti, took Vercelli, but was driven out by Theodore II of Montferrat (1404), from whom the city passed to the dukes of Savoy (1427).
In 1499 and 1553 it was captured by the French, and in 1616 and 1678 by the Spaniards. In 1704 it sustained an energetic siege by the French, who failed to destroy the fortress; after this it shared the fortunes of Savoy. In 1821 Vercelli rose in favour of the Constitution.
There are two noteworthy towers in the town: the Torre dell’Angelo, which rears up over the old market square, and the Torre di Città in Via Gioberti.
Vercelli Cathedral, formerly adorned with precious pillars and mosaics, was erected and enlarged by Saint Eusebius of Vercelli, to whom it was dedicated after his death. It was remodelled in the ninth century, and radically changed in the sixteenth by Count Alfieri. Like the other churches in the city, it contains valuable paintings, especially those of Gaudenzio Ferrari, Gerolamo Giovenone and Lanino, who were natives of Vercelli. The cathedral library holds the famous Vercelli Book—an Old English manuscript which includes the celebrated alliterative poem The Dream of the Rood, the 8th-century Laws of the Lombards, and other early manuscripts.
The Basilica di Sant'Andrea was erected by Cardinal Guala Bicchieri in 1219. Together with the old Cistercian monastery, it is one of the most beautiful and best-preserved Romanesque monuments in Italy.
The Moorish Revival 1878 Vercelli Synagogue is at Via Foà 70.
Among other noteworthy churches is Santa Maria Maggiore.
The Institute of the Beaux-Arts contains paintings by Vercellese artists.
Ancient charitable institutions continue, such as the hospital founded by Cardinal Guala Bicchieri (1224), which has an annual revenue of more than 600,000 lire ($117,000); and the hospices for orphan girls (1553) and for boys (1542), and mendicant homes.
The archives of the metropolitan chapter contain valuable manuscripts, including an evangelarium of the fourth century, the "Novels" of Justinian, the Leges Langobardorum (Laws of the Lombards - Germanic); Étienne Baluze's Capitularia regum Francorum (Acts of the Franks) (1677 version of medieval manuscripts); also hagiographical manuscripts, not all of which have been critically examined; and a very old copy of the Imitation of Christ, which is relied upon as an argument for attributing the authorship to John Gersen. The civil archives are not less important, and contain documents dating from 882. The extensive seminary contains a large library.
Vercelli is seat of the Viotti International Music Competition.
As of 2006, 92.38% of the population was Italian. The largest foreign group came from other parts of Europe (namely Albania, and Romania): 3.48%, followed by North Africa: 2.21%, and sub-saharan Africa: 0.64%. Approximately 1 in 6 babies born in Vercelli has a least one foreign parent.
To continue the glorious history of the club the Pro Belvedere Vercelli has changed its name to the F.C. Pro Vercelli 1892.Today it competes in the Lega Pro Seconda Divisione.
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
