Voghera
Encyclopedia
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
of Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, in the province of Pavia
Province of Pavia
The Province of Pavia is a province in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. Pavia is the capital.It has an area of 2,965 km², and a total population of 493,753...
. It is located 30 km south-southwest of that city, on the Staffora
Staffora
The Staffora is a river of the Oltrepò Pavese in the Province of Pavia, north-west Italy and a right-side tributary of the Po. It is probably the river known to the Romans as the Iria.-Course:...
(a tributary of the Po
Po River
The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...
).
The neighbourhood produces much silk, in which, as well as in corn and wine, an active trade is carried on.
History
Known in ancient times as Iria, it took its name from the river on which it was situated. It was on the road from PiacenzaPiacenza
Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
to Dertona
Tortona
Tortona is a comune of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines.-History:...
, and was made a colony by Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
(colonia Forum Iulium Iriensium).
In the 1st century CE it was destroyed by the Rugii, and it is next mentioned as Viqueria (contracted from vicus Iriae, Iria's village) in the 10th century. After several lordships, it was acquired by the House of Savoy
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
in 1743 with the Concordat of Worms
Concordat of Worms
The Concordat of Worms, sometimes called the Pactum Calixtinum by papal historians, was an agreement between Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V on September 23, 1122 near the city of Worms...
. Five years later it became provincial capital and received the city status.
In 1800 it was occupied by the troops
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
of Napoleon, who set his headquarters in the Palazzo Dattili for the battle of Montebello
Battle of Montebello (1800)
The Battle of Montebello was fought on 9 June 1800 near Montebello in Lombardy. During the lead-up to the Battle of Marengo, the vanguard of the French army in Italy engaged and defeated an Austrian force in a "glorious victory".-Background:...
. In 1805 it became part of the département of Genoa
Gênes
Gênes is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Italy, named after the city of Genoa. It was formed in 1805, when Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the Republic of Genoa. Its capital was Genoa, and it was divided in the arrondissements of Genoa, Bobbio, Novi Ligure, Tortona and...
; after the French defeat in 1814, it was captured by the Austrians, who handed it over to the Piedmontese. In 1860 it was included in the province of Pavia.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, owing to its strategic position on the roads Milan-Genoa and Turin-Bologna, it was heavily bombed by the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
.
On May 31, 1962, it was the location of a railway disaster
Voghera train crash
The Voghera train crash is considered one of the most serious incidents in the history of the Italian railways. It happened at track three of Voghera railway station, on the night of 31 May 1962. Sixty-four people lost their lives, and 40 were seriously injured....
that killed 62 people.
Main sights
- The Castle, erected by the ViscontiHouse of ViscontiVisconti is the family name of two important Italian noble dynasties of the Middle Ages. There are two distinct Visconti families: The first one in the Republic of Pisa in the mid twelfth century who achieved prominence first in Pisa, then in Sardinia where they became rulers of Gallura...
in 1335-1372. - Palazzo Gounela, the current Town Hall.
- The large Cathedral of Saint Lawrence dates from the 11th century, but was remodelled in the BaroqueBaroqueThe Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
style about the beginning of the 17th. - The church of St. Joseph, with a noteworthy Baroque façade.
- The suppressed church of Sant'Ilario, also known as Tempio alla Cavalleria or Chiesa Rossa ("Cavalry Temple" or "Red Church"), so called from the red colour of the brick of which it is built. It dates from the 8th-10th centuries.
The Historic Museum houses, among the others, the personal A112
Autobianchi A112
The Autobianchi A112 is a supermini produced by the Italian automaker Autobianchi. It was developed using the mechanicals which subsequently underpinned the Fiat 127. It was introduced in 1969, as a replacement for the Bianchina and Primula, and was built until 1986, when it made way for the more...
car of General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa
Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa
Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa was a general of the Italian carabinieri notable for campaigning against terrorism during the 1970s in Italy, and later assassinated by the Mafia in Palermo.-Biography:...
, killed by the Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
in 1982, and the weapon that allegedly killed Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
.
Transport
Voghera railway stationVoghera railway station
Voghera railway station serves the town and comune of Voghera, in the region of Lombardy, northern Italy. Opened in 1858, it forms part of the Alessandria–Piacenza railway, and is also the terminus of a railway from Milan via Pavia....
, opened in 1858, forms part of the Alessandria–Piacenza railway, and is also an important node of the railway from Milan to Genoa. Due to its strategic position, the station is an important trading node, and one of the major railway stations in Italy's north-west.
Notable people
- Fashion designer Valentino Garavani, best known simply as Valentino.
- Mauro NespoliMauro NespoliMauro Nespoli is an Italian archer.Nespoli was born in Voghera , the place where he has always lived...
, archer of the Italian National Team. - Futurist painter Ambrogio CasatiAmbrogio CasatiAmbrogio Casati was an Italian painter.He was born in Voghera, Italy in 1897 and was schooled in Paris in the plastic arts. Upon his return to Italy, he became associated with Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and the Futurist movement that was gaining force in the Italian arts scene of the time...
. - Italian boxer world and Olimpyc champion Giovanni ParisiGiovanni ParisiGiovanni Parisi was an Italian boxer, who won the gold medal in the Men's Featherweight category at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.- Biography:...
- Computer art pioneer Aldo GiorginiAldo GiorginiAldo Giorgini was an Italian artist and a pioneer in computer graphics. He is the father of music producer Mass Giorgini.-Biography:Giorgini was born in Voghera, in the province of Pavia...
. - The housewife from Voghera is a stereotypicalStereotypeA stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
figure representing the average housewife. - Writers Alberto ArbasinoAlberto ArbasinoAlberto Arbasino is an Italian writer and essayist.-Biography:Arbasino was born at Voghera, southern Lombardy. He studied at the University of Milan where he graduated in law. Later he worked as journalist for magazines such as Il Mondo and the newspaper La Repubblica...
, Carolina Invernizio, and Alessandro MaraglianoAlessandro MaraglianoAlessandro Maragliano was a writer, linguist and poet.Better known by his fellow citizens as Lissandren dra Russela, which in the local Lombard vernacular translates as 'little Alexander of the Russela', the name 'Russela' referring to the area where he lived, named after the Rosselli brothers,...
. - Watchmaker Giovanni Sordi
- The Maserati BrothersMaserati BrothersThe Maserati Brothers were involved with automobiles from the beginning of the 20th century. All were born to Rodolfo Maserati and his wife Carolina in Voghera, Lombardy, Italy. Rodolfo was a railway worker from Piacenza, driving a heavy Krupp locomotive, and married Carolina Losi...
, automobile engineers - Sandro Bolchi, cinema director
- Giovanni Plana, astronomer