Information about Borgosesia in the Province of Vercelli
Borgosesia has Roman origins and is the economic and industrial capital of Valseisa, mainly active in the textile and wool sector, but also in the metallurgical, handcrafts and food industries. Its most populated centre enjoys a favourite geographical position since it is at the centre of the crossroad among Valsesia, and the areas of Vercelli, Biella and Novara. It is situated along both the banks of the river Sesia and enjoys both a hill and a mountain landscape.
It entered the jurisdiction of Vercelli, together with all the other villages in the valley, during the first half of the XIII century.
There are several testimonies of the interesting historic and artistic past of this centre of the Valsesia. One example is the Parish dedicated to the Saint Peter and Paul, dominated by a high bell tower erected in 1647, enlarged around 1700 and decorated with the existing neoclassical façade in 1852. In its interiors there is an altar piece of Bernardino Lanino, frescoes of Tanzio da Varallo and of other local artists of the Gaudenzio school.
Despite the considerable building development, the historic centre maintained the characteristics of the ancient village. It is pleasant to walk along the typical roads and the very busy squares, rich with shops and bars and restaurants or else to walk in the Public Gardens and in the Magni Park, which lays on the left bank of the River Sesia.
In the main square, Mazzini Square, there is also the Church of Saint Anthony, built at the end of the XV century and enlarged, together with the demolition of the bell tower, at the end of the XVI century. Other religious buildings are the Church of Saint Martha in Antongini road, dating back to the XIII century; the Oratory of Saint Bernard, at the beginning of the Viale delle Rimembranze and the Oratory of Saint Gratus, on the road witch connects the Montrigone quarter with Valduggia.
To the south of Borgosesia, on a small hill which dominates it, there is the sixteenth century Sanctuary of Saint Anne of Montrigone, also known as the “Small Sacro Monte”. This is dedicated to the Virgin of Mercy and to the Saints Roch and Mark and was built in 1648 at the request of the inhabitants of the quarter as an ex voto for the miraculous protection obtained during plague. The ramps of the hill are separated by thirteen aedicule representing the stations of the Cross, built along baroque lines and painted by Lorenzo Paraciono. On the top of the hill there is the church, which presents a façade with an airy arcade made in 1749. Inside there are plastic groups of Giovanni d’Errico (who worked for the Sacri Monti of Varallo, Orta and Oropa and brother of Tanzio da Varallo) and of Giacomo Ferro, representing episodes of the life of the Virgin Mary.
Noteworthy during the visit to the town centre are the Folklore and Ethnographical Museum of Valsesia displaying costumes and objects belonging to the local cultural tradition and the Palaeontology and Paleethnology Museum which looks after the pre-historic remains discovered on the Fenera Mountain, situated in a Natural Park (at the moment the two museums for restoration and restructuring).
Among the events we remind you of the weekly market which is held every Saturday in the centre, the Historic Carnival in the month of February with the Carriages Parade and the traditional “Mercü Scurot”, the “Viviviale” on the first weekend of September and, in October, the Blessing for those who died in the Mountains at Monte Tovo.
|