Mortara (town)
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| Città di Mortara | |
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 Municipal coat of arms |
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| Country |  Italy |
| Region | Lombardy |
| Province | Pavia (PV) |
| Mayor | Roberto Robecchi (since May 29, 2007) |
| Elevation | 108 m (354 ft) |
| Area | 52 km² (20 sq mi) |
| Population (as of December 31, 2004) | |
| - Total | 14,609 |
| - Density | 281/km² (728/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET, UTC+1 |
| Coordinates | |
| Gentilic | mortaresi |
| Dialing code | 0384 |
| Postal code | 27036 |
| Frazioni | Casoni di Sant'Albino, Casoni dei Peri, Cattanea, Guallina, Madonna Del Campo, Medaglia, Molino Faenza |
| Patron | San Lorenzo |
| Website: www.comune.mortara.pv.it | |
Mortara is a town in the region of Lombardy, Italy. It lies in the district known as Lomellina, a rice-growing agricultural center.
[edit] History
The town has Roman origins proved by several archaeological discoveries and its first name was Pulchra Silva. After the bloody battle during which Charlemagne defeated the Longobard King Desiderius in 773, its name changed. In «Orlando Furioso» (second canto) it can be read:
Quivi cader de’ Longobardi tanti,
e tanta fu quivi la strage loro,
che ‘l loco de la pugna gli abitanti
Mortara dapoi sempre nominoro.—Ludovico Ariosto, I cinque canti - canto II, 88
(the prose translation sounds as follows: «Here several Longobards died and the slaughter of them was so great here that, from then on, the inhabitants gave the place of the battle the name of Mortara). It prospered as a hunting place of pastimes thanks to Galeazzo Visconti, who decreed unsuccessfully to change its name into Beldiporto (1384). It was transformed by Charles V into a fortress called «The Star» and in 1658 was besieged by the French-Piedmontese Army led by Francesco d'Este. It was restituted to Spain and remained a Spanish possession until 1706, when it was annexed to the Savoy Kingdom. In the same year it became the capital of the Province of Lomellina. On March 21th, 1849 it was the site of a bloody Austro-Piedmontese battle just before the defeat of Novara. Mortara is now an agricultural center of national importance for its rice production, but it is also an interesting and tasty gastronomical destination thanks to the goose sausages and products.
[edit] Main sights
San Lorenzo The Gothic basilica with a brick facade was built by Bartolino da Novara between 1375 and 1380 and retouched in 1840 and in 1916. The two tondoes outside the main entrance are both fifteenth-century works. In the pilaster strips the portrait of SS. Albin, Amìcus and Amelius are nineteenth-century copies from a fifteenth-century polyptych by Paolo da Brescia, a work at first in the Church of S. Albin and now conserved in the Savoy Picture-gallery of Turin. The Church has several artistìc masterpieces inside. From the right of the entrance on there are: in the first span a fifteenth-century fresco representing the «Virgin with Her Child»; in the second span «The Lady between St. Roch and St. Sebastian», a table of 1524 which some critics attribute to Gaudenzio Ferrari. First chapel - In the middle there is the table by Bernardo Lanino, dated 1578 and representing «The Lady of the Rosary» crowned by 15 tablets by the same author illustrating the fifteen misteries of the Rosary. The niche is completed by four canvasses by G. C. Procaccini representing the «Archangel» and «Our Lady of the Annunciation», «The Escape to Egypt» and «The rest of the Holy Family», in addition to a «Glory in Paradise» attributed to Camillo Procaccini. Second chapel - Above the altar there is the great table by G. B. Crespi called «il Cerano», signed and date 1610 and representing the «Crucifixion with Ss. Ambrogius, Laurentius and Mary the Magdalen». Left aisle, first chapel - Here we can find a magnificent wooden Christmas crib with about 80 low relieved figures (beginnings of the fifteenth century) by Lorenzo da Mortara. Beside it there are «St. Charles in prayer» and «St. Ann with the Virgin» attributed to Morazzone. Second chapel - There is the fifteenth-century polyptych on a six-parted table, a work by A. De Munini.
S. Croce It was found in 1080, outside the walls of the village under the patronage of Pope Gregorius UI I, and re-built inside the city walls by following the designs of Pellegrino Tibaldí in 1596. The heavy repairs during the Sixties modified the faQade a lot and also the inside (which was aisleless and with side chapels) lose the originality of the design by Tibaldi. In the pilaster strip dividing the first chapel from the second ond the left there is a footprint of the Redeemer, made of Carrara marble, and, according to the tradition, it is a relic dating back to the period of the Crusades, but it is likely more recent. In the third chapel on the right there is a remarkable «Adoration of the Magi» painted by Bernardino Lanino in 1533, and recently repaired thanks to the Lomellina section of «Italia nostra». In the fourth chapel we can see «Saint Michael» while bringing the domain of Guglielmo Caccia called «Il Moncalvo» down to earth. In the counterfaQade there are two watercolours on canvas of 1545 representing «Our Lady of the Annunciation» and «Archangel Gabriel», attributed to the Vigevanese painter Bernardino Ferrari. In the fourth chapel on the left there are «The Lady with Child and Saints» by the sixteenth-century school of Veneto and a fifteenth-century fresco representing Saint Augustin.
S. Maria del Campo About two kilometres lo the West of Mortara, near che street lo Novara, thìs Church stands al the end of a little square in the middle of the village drawing its name from it. Its existence has been evidenced since 1145: the hints of the originai building are in the column surrounding the dome and in some parts of the masonry. The faqade reminds of the Lombard-Gothic outlines of the «hall churches» that are typical of Lomellina. In the internai wide niches, which have also the function of chapels, there are frescoes belonging lo different centuries, among which we can fino a «Lady of the Rosary with Ss. Roch and Dominicus» (fifteenth century), and a damaged «Pietà» attributed to Cerano. We can admire also the fresco functioning as an altar-pieces of the high altar and representing a «Glory of Angels-Musicians» attributed to Cerano. In the chief chapel there are two statues, representing St. Dominicus and St. John the Baptizer, attributed to Cerano. Opposite the Church we can find the ancient community oven (now in bad condition) where the people living in the little vìllage used to bake the bread.
S. Albino One of the Christian «mother-churches» of the fifth-century Lomellina it was re-used by Charlemagne as a burial ground for the soldiers fallen in the battle between the Longobard and the Frank armies, on October 12th, 773, a battle renowned for its great number of dead. Among the fallen there were also two paladins of Charlemagne's, Amelius of Alvernia and Amicus from Beyre, whose death inspired a lot of French chansons de geste. In 774 the famous abbott Alkwin Albin added a canonical college to the Church. During the Middle Ages S. ALBINO's was a compulsory halting-piace for the pìlgrims going from Britain and France to Rome. The architectural style developed from an originai mingling of the Romanic style, clearly recognizable in the apse, with the Renaissance style, to be found in the fagade and in the nave. Against the Southern side of the porch completing the fagade, there is a building, perhaps a part of the ancient monastery. Beside the church, there are the ruins of the cloister, a brick open gallery with wooden architraves and with a fourteenth-century Gothic window decorated with rural motives. Inside - On the right wall there are three frescoes painted by Giovanni da Milano in 1410 and representing «Abbott St. Anthony» «The Baptism of Jesus» «The Lady sitting on the throne with St. Albin, St. Jacob, St. Augustin and the client». Another fresco, by an unknown painter working during the first half of the fifteenth century, can be seen under the triptych and it represents «St. Laurentius» with the symbol of his martyrdom in his hand. Next to this fresco there are some visible marks carved in the bricks by the pilgrims lo remember their passage: the most ancient readable date is the year 1100. Another anonymous fresco is on the left part of the presbytery and represents a «Lady with Child and Saints».
[edit] External links
- (Italian) Town website
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