Information about Santhia in the Province of Vercelli
Industrial, agricultural and commercial centre of great importance in the province of Vercelli. It was surely inhabited since Roman times, as testified by the archaeological finds
The place name derives from them medieval Sancta Agata, Christian martyr, to whom, for will of the queen Teodolinda, the people’s church was dedicated. The name Santhià was already used before the X century.
In the central piazza Roma there is the Town Hall Palace, neoclassical, divided in three parts, out of which the upper ones are divided by fluted pilasters with Ionic capitals.
On the right side of the square rises the parish of Saint Agatha, founded in the X century as a canonical minister.
The minister flourished during the X – XI century but went through a deep crisis at the end of the XII century, despite the donations of the bishop Uguccione. Nevertheless it survived for several centuries and it was only suppressed in the Napoleonic era, in 1806. It was rebuilt in 1829 and finally destroyed in 1855.
The Romanic building was rebuilt first in the XVI century and then to its contemporary neoclassical shape in 1836 by Giuseppe Talucchi.
The façade is preceded by a large neoclassical pronaos, frescoed by Luigi Hatman with religious scenes. The interior is divided into three naves by two big ranges of columns. On the vault there is the Glory of Saint Agatha, a fresco by P.E. Morgani (1862). The walls were frescoed by Hartman and by Costa. In the left nave, third chapel, there is a precious Polyptych by Gerolamo Giovenone (1531), divided into ten parts which represents the saints to whom the ancient canon ministers and parishes were dedicated. On the top Saint Luisa, Saint Stephen, Saint Agatha, Saint Eusebius, Saint Catherine (stolen. On the bottom Saint Roch, Saint Michael, The Virgin with Child, Saint John the Baptist and Saint Sebastian.
The nineteenth century statue of Saint Agatha is a precious work of Vincenzo Giani (1861). The organ is also from 1861 and was made by the brothers Serassi of Bergamo. In the vestry there are some wonderful carved cupboards. Under the presbytery there is the crypt of Saint Stephen, which is what is left of the Romanic church. The room, empty and severe, can be dated back to the second quarter of the XII century. On the left side there is the “Baptism”, a square painting made by Bonelli in 1898.
The bell tower dates back to the late Romanic period (XII century) as the remains of the ancient walls with merlons of the canonic cloister, made of river stones with floral decorations. The Church of the Holy Trinity and of the Saints Apostle Peter and Paul has a baroque wooden altar, made by the cravers of the Valsesia, with a nice golden and carved riser. On top there is a representation of the Holy Trinity surrounded by the Angels. The Altar contains a painting representing the Holy Trinity and the Saints Apostle Peter and Paul, of the sixteenth century painting school of Vercelli
On the left of Corso Nuova Italia, it is possible to see the courtyard where the Tower of Teodolina rises. This is a cylindrical tower made of stones, dating back to the XIV – XV century, but surely not from the longobardic period. It probably belonged to a patrician family.
To witness the historical importance of Santhià there are the wall with merlons situated near the square of the Ss. Rosario and the house with towers, which is supposed to have been the headquarters of the Savoy court during the plague epidemic of the XVII century.
In the S. Francesco auditorium there is the Municipal Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery ,where more than two hundred paintings can be seen. In the park Durandi there finally is the Monument to the fallen of the Great War made by Attilio Gartmann (1923).
|