Information about Ceresano in the Province of Vercelli
A town of ancient origin, rich in history and tradition, situated on the right of the Sesia river between the artificial canals of Bona and Marcova.
The area is said to have been inhabited by Ligurians, who lived by hunting and fishing, as some stone age relics found in the area of Tombeto and Ghiaretta show. Its Roman origin is certain; the name derives from the aristocratic Caresius and not from carix, in other words the sedges which were widespread here; yet this belief was even to influence the town’s coat-of-arms which, in fact, show a sedge with the wording “E CARICE BIS ANNO FRUGES”. Various relics from Roman times have been found: a tomb with two balsam-jars, a coin from 41 AD, a splendid glass mug “signed” in Greek by the artist Ennione. It is thought that the castrum in Caresana was to be succeeded by a castle, which has remained in the place-name.
The violent earthquake of 1117 profoundly modified the town landscape; not a single church remained standing and twenty years later people rightfully spoke of a “new village”. In 1233 the men of Caresana were freed by the Vercelli section and relieved of all taxes and serfdom; the town was then built as a free village, the typical chessboard layout of which can still be admired today; in the subsequent centuries it was enfeoffed to various noble families. On the corner of corso Italia and corso Roma stands the Parish church of Saint Matthew, mentioned in a document as early as 987 under its old name of Saints Simon and Jude.
Documents dating from the XIII and XIV century suggest that at the moment of its first reconstruction it must have been a typical gothic church in Lombard-Piedmontese style. It collapsed in 1743 and was rebuilt between 1748 and 1752.
Continual restoration and modifications were made during the course of the nineteenth century until its definitive restoration in 1961 for the Eucharistic Congress. The nineteenth century facade is divided into highly simplified, neatly arranged sections. In the middle is a fresco by Morgari. The bell-tower is what remains of the 1748 reconstruction. There is a grand entrance with three naves in neo-classical style and lowered side aisles. The forms are simple and airy. In the vault there are symbolic decorations by De Marchi (1903 – 1904). The apse and choir were redesigned by the engineer Vincenzo Canetti in 1901; in the centre is Saint Matthew, a large painting by Caboni (1845). In the right nave is the fresco of Saint George and the dragon by Andrea Conti (1993); the subsequent great cloth Crucifix by Moncoli, known as “I Crist”, is the subject of popular devotion similar to that of the Crucifix in Vercelli Cathedral.
On Easter morning in fact, the ladies of the town assist at its uncovering (“squarcié ‘l Crist”) bringing with them some eggs which they have hard-boiled on Good Friday so that they may be blessed and then eaten by members of the family who have been fasting. Near the altar is a large photographic reproduction of the Baptism of Christ by Cima da Conegliano, once displayed here and now at the “Borgogna” museum in Vercelli. In the left nave is the Annunciation by Renzo Pomati. The organ dates back to 1831 and was made by Agostino Amatis of Monza.
Further along corso Italia is the confraternity of Saint Catherine, which probably dates back to the XVI century. It is laid out in three small naves and a large choir, now deconsecrated. This leads to the Castello district where the small church of Saint Rocco stands, certainly dating back to the XVI century. Inside is a stucco altar frontal with polychrome inlays of 1747 by Guazzane. Taking the road which leads to the Cemetery, a little further on is the church of Saint Maria, mentioned as early as 1024 in a deed of sale. During the course of the XI century it was named “de castro” (=of the castle) and had to be depend on it. The church was completely rebuilt in the nineteenth century in neo-classical style; the entire area was widely redeveloped in this century, with the creation of the Parco della Rimembranza.
The Cemetery of Caresana, dating back to 1870 and where famous nineteenth and twentieth century Piedmontese artists worked, is of particular interest: Giuseppe Locarni (the wrought iron cross), Luigi Carrara (the chapel), Luigi Martini (the monument), Ercole Villa (two white marble busts for the Vercellotti chapel), Attilio Gertmann (the bust of his wife and the figure of Guido for his family tomb as well as the statue of Christ for the Pisani tomb).
The first document certifying the existence of the Church of Saint George dates back to 1118 but it must have been of Lombard origin and was, perhaps, the old parish church of the town, rebuilt after the earthquake of 1117. The portico was rebuilt in 1632, but its current form dates back to the XIX century. Given its location outside the town walls, from 1361 onwards it was used as an isolation hospital. The facade is nineteenth century and is embellished by restored frescoes.
At the top is Saint George; in the middle is Saint Cataldo, the scene of the dragon and Saint Bovo.
The church was the headquarters of the Company of Saint George, from which the famous Ox race originated.
THE OX RACE
This is a unique race of its kind preceding the historic race of Asigliano. There is some divergence as regards the origins of the Ox Race. Some believe that it originated from a vow taken during the plague epidemic of 1630, during the Spanish occupation; this would explain some aspects of the event which recall the Spanish encierros. However a town ordinance dated 1862 contains the news that in 1236 the Company of Saint George was created with the intention of distributing bread annually in respect of a vow made to Saint George during an epidemic and that the event would be commemorated with the Ox race. It is strange however that over the course of the centuries, no mention of this custom is made in documents.
The race probably originated in an entirely spontaneous manner without any official intervention: during the feast of Saint George it was customary to make a procession with the animals yoked to the carts as far as the tower, a sort of milestone outside the town; on returning to the town each driver wished to be the first to bring the blessed bread and therefore tried to overtake the other carts, inciting his own pair of oxen. That must have been how the race started which, given its simple and popular appeal, soon became a custom, coloured too by that touch of rivalry between the drivers it soon found fertile ground among the inhabitants who began to take the side of one or other pair of oxen. With the passing of the centuries the race began to be an institution and to be regulated by a precise code of ceremony.
The starting positions are drawn by lots; the oxen dressed with garlands and saddle-cloths and the shafts of the carts are decorated; then the procession with the relics of the Saint carried by the chaplain accompanied by the members of the Order of Saint George. Holy mass is celebrated in the church of Saint George; at the moment of the Evangelisation the oxen complete three propitiatory and votive circles and are then lined up in front of the starting line. At twelve o’clock exactly the Mayor, after reciting the formula “resti pitiquesti dareissá vechí pumín via” fires the starting shot; this is how the race begins. It ends with the first to arrive at the “cavetto”( finishing line); the winner is rewarded with a small banner and the veneration of the focaccia (oily bread) begins. The Ox race has been widely studied as a subject of folklore and has been filmed by crews from various European television channels.
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