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26-735: The Viotti International Music Festival was founded in 1997 in the town of Vercelli , after the discovery of unpublished compositions by Giovanni Battista Viotti . Concerts are held at the Basilica of Saint Andrew, the Civic Theater and the Church of Saint Christopher in Vercelli. The festival has featured soloists included Uto Ughi , Salvatore Accardo , Cecilia Gasdia , Vladimir Spivakov , Maxence Larrieu , Katia Ricciarelli , Ruggiero Ricci , Shlomo Mintz , Luciana Serra , Mischa Maisky . The festival

52-542: A campaign against Pandolfo III Malatesta of Fano . Despite initial success, Facino suffered from an acute attack of gout and had to be carried back to Pavia. As Facino lay dying, Duke Gian Maria Visconti was murdered in Milan; one of Facino's last acts is said to have been to urge all to swear loyalty to Filippo Maria as his brother's successors. Facino died at Pavia on 16 May 1412, leaving no children. His widow Beatrice married Duke Filippo Maria Visconti, who therefore inherited

78-462: A small lordship centred on Borgo San Martino from the Marquis of Montferrat, before passing definitively into Visconti service, in which he was rewarded with greater lordship. By 1404 his personal dominions included Alessandria , Novara and Tortona . After the deaths of Duke Gian Galeazzo Visconti in 1402 and of his widow Caterina Visconti in 1404, Facino largely assumed the effective control of

104-565: Is home to numerous relics of the Roman period, e.g. an amphitheatre, hippodrome, sarcophagi, and many important inscriptions, some of which are Christian. There are seven noteworthy towers in the town, the most important are 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 ,

130-592: Is linked to the Orchestra Camerata Ducale a Vercelli, who is recording the complete works of Viotti for Bongiovanni, Naxos e Chandos. In response to international calls Viotti Festivals have been organized elsewhere in the world: Vercelli The city is situated on the Sesia River in the plain of the Po River between Milan and Turin . It is an important centre for the cultivation of rice and

156-566: Is surrounded by rice paddies , which are flooded in the summer. The climate is typical of the Po Valley with cold, foggy winters (0.4 °C (33 °F) in January) and oppressive heat during the summer months (23.45 °C or 74 °F in July). Rainfall is most prevalent during the spring and autumn; thunderstorms are common in the summer. The languages spoken in Vercelli are Italian and Piedmontese ;

182-572: The Carraresi lord of Padua. His unscrupulous behaviour caused a scandal, leading to his dismissal by the Carraresi in 1388. Facino now entered the service of Theodore II , Marquess of Montferrat, with 400 knights, in his war against the House of Savoy . Facino's aim in wars was almost exclusively the enrichment of himself and his soldiers, resulting in continued savage acts of ruthlessness and cruelties against

208-642: The Codex Vercellensis , an evangeliarium of the fourth century; 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 . Its secular texts include the Novels of Justinian ; and the 8th-century Leges Langobardorum (Laws of the Lombards - Germanic). Finally, it contains

234-618: The Duchy of Milan for their young sons Gian Maria Visconti , the new duke of Milan, and Filippo Maria Visconti , the ruler of Pavia . On 24 January 1406, Facino was invested as Count of Biandrate by Filippo Maria Visconti, in the presence of the Marquess of Montferrat. The new count of Biandrate was subsequently occupied with the Visconti's conflict with the Malatesta. In January 1412, Facino set out on

260-563: 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

286-460: The bicciolani a type of biscuit. The typical wine is Gattinara DOCG , a classic red wine of Piedmont made principally from the nebbiolo grape (known locally as spanna ) from the comune of Gattinara , where there is archaeological evidence of vines being grown in Roman times. Unione Sportiva Pro Vercelli was one of the most successful football clubs in Italy in the early 20th century, winning

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312-458: The city from 1301 to 1334. The Guelphs were expelled several times, 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

338-560: The city is the Santa Maria Maggiore . Vercelli's synagogue , an example of Moorish Revival architecture , is located at Via Foà 70 and the city's Jewish cemetery at Corso Randaccio 24. On 23 November 2013, after what was believed to be an antisemitic act, two swastikas were found sprayed on its walls. The Institute of the Beaux-Arts contains paintings by Vercellese artists. Ancient charitable institutions continue, such as

364-511: The famous Vercelli Book — an Old English manuscript which includes the celebrated alliterative poem The Dream of the Rood . The civil archives are not less important and contain documents dating from 882. 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. Among other noteworthy churches in

390-525: 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. Vercelli is the seat of the Viotti International Music Competition . In 2007, 44,475 people were recorded as residing in Vercelli, of whom 47.3% were male and 52.7% were female. Minors (children aged 18 and younger) totalled 14.41% of

416-481: The national championship seven times between 1908 and 1922. However, in the summer of 2010, it was not admitted to the league due to heavy debt. A.S. Pro Belvedere Vercelli continued the history of the club and changed its name to F.C. Pro Vercelli 1892 . Currently, it plays in Serie C . Facino Cane Facino Cane da Casale (1360 – 16 May 1412), born Bonifacio Cane , was an Italian condottiero . Facino Cane

442-411: The national population grew by 3.56%. As of 2006 , 92.38% of the population was Italian . The remainder were Albanian and Romanian (3.48%), North African (2.21%) and Sub-Saharan (0.64%). Approximately 1 in 6 babies born in Vercelli has at least one foreign parent. The typical dish is rice with beans, called panissa (made with Arborio , Baldo or Maratelli rice), the tartufata (cake) and

468-407: The population and pensioners 25.83%; the overall national averages are, respectively, 18.06% and 19.94%. The average age of a Vercelli resident was 47 (five years more than the national average of 42) and the birth rate was 8.69 births per 1,000 inhabitants (national average of 9.45 births per 1,000 inhabitants). In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Vercelli declined by 1.31% while

494-422: The population. This led Theodore, too, to dismiss Facino in 1397, and the condottiero returned to service with the Carraresi of Padua and then, in 1401, with the Visconti of Milan. By this time, Facino appears to have increased his wealth and following by marrying Beatrice , the daughter of a cousin, Ruggero Cane  [ it ] , who had been a captain in the service of the Visconti. In 1399 Facino received

520-454: The service of Charles of Durazzo (now King Charles III of Naples), fighting against his rival, Duke Louis I of Anjou in 1382. When Charles left for Hungary in 1385, Facino returned to Northern Italy. At the age of 26, in 1386, he became condottiero for the Scaliger lord of Verona in a conflict against Padua . Taken captive by the enemy in 1387, Facino was released and entered into the service of

546-567: The variety of Piedmontese native to the city is called Varsleis . The world's first university funded by public money was established in Vercelli in 1228 (the seventh university founded in Italy), but was closed in 1372. 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 . Vercellae (or Vercelum )

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572-647: Was born in Casale Monferrato to a noble family that produced a number of military captains and administrators. His father was Manuele, the son of Enrico Cane. Facino had younger brothers named Filippino and Marcolo. Most of the family abandoned the service of the Marquess of Montferrat for the Visconti of Milan in the early 1360s. Facino trained in the military arts by fighting under Otto of Brunswick against Charles of Durazzo , in 1381. Taken captive, he passed into

598-562: Was driven out by Theodore II of Montferrat (1404), from whom the city passed to the dukes of Savoy (1427). In 1499 and 1553 Vercelli 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 which it shared the fortunes of Savoy. In 1821 Vercelli rose in favour of the Constitution. Vercelli

624-481: Was erected and enlarged by Saint Eusebius of Vercelli , to whom it was dedicated after his death. It was remodelled as of the ninth century and radically changed in the eighteenth by Count Alfieri. Like the other churches in the city, it contains valuable paintings, especially those of Gaudenzio Ferrari , Gerolamo Giovenone and Bernardino Lanino , who were natives of Vercelli. The cathedral's Capitulary Library contains valuable manuscripts. Its religious texts include

650-701: Was the capital of the Libici or Lebecili , a Ligurian tribe; it became an important municipium , near which Gaius Marius defeated the Cimbri and the Teutones in the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC . The 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

676-683: Was transferred to Vercelli, where it remained until the fourteenth century, but without gaining much prominence; only a university school of law has been maintained. In 1307, Fra Dolcino , the leader of the Dulcinians , was tortured and burned at the stake. 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

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