| Ivrea | |
|---|---|
| — Comune — | |
| Città di Ivrea | |
| Panorama of Ivrea | |
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Ivrea
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Piedmont |
| Province | Turin (TO) |
| Frazioni | Torre Balfredo |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Carlo Della Pepa Elected: April 28, 2008 Party: centre-left |
| Area | |
| • Total | 30.19 km2 (11.7 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 253 m (830 ft) |
| Population (30 April 2009) | |
| • Total | 24,338 |
| • Density | 806.2/km2 (2,087.9/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Eporediesi |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| Postal code | 10015 |
| Dialing code | 0125 |
| Patron saint | Saint Sabinus |
| Saint day | July 7 |
| Website | Official website |
Ivrea is a town and comune of the province of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley (part of the medieval Via Francigena), it straddles the Dora Baltea and is regarded as the centre of the Canavese area. Ivrea lies in a basin that, in prehistoric times, formed a great lake. Today a number of five smaller lakes — Sirio, San Michele, Pistono, Nero and Campagna — dot the area around the town.
During the 20th century its primary claim to fame was as the base of operations for Olivetti, a renowned manufacturer of typewriters, mechanical calculators and, later, computers. The company no longer has an independent existence, though its name still appears as a registered trademark on office equipment manufactured by others. In 1970 about 90,000 people (including commuters from Southern Italy) lived and worked in the Ivrea Area. When Olivetti closed its operations the population dropped to 30% of its former level.
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The town first appears in history as a cavalry station of the army of the Roman Empire, founded in 100 BC and set to guard one of the traditional invasion routes into northern Italy over the Alps. The Latin name of the town was Eporedia. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Ivrea became seat of a duchy under the Lombards (6th-8th centuries). Alessandro Manzoni in his Adelchi, names one duke Guinigi of Ivrea, chosen by king Desiderius as defender of Pavia. Under the Franks (9th century), Ivrea was a county capital. In the year 1001, after a period of disputes with bishop Warmund, ruler of the city, Arduin conquered March of Ivrea. Later he became King of Italy and set a dynasty that lasted until the 11th century, when the city switched again to the bishops' suzerainty. The following century Ivrea became a free commune, but succumbed in the first decades of the 13th century. In 1238 Emperor Frederick II put it under his domains. Later Ivrea was disputed between the bishops, the marquis of Monferrato and the House of Savoy.
In 1356 Ivrea was acquired by Amadeus VI of Savoy. With the exception of the brief French conquest at the end of the 16th century, Ivrea remained under Savoy until 1800 – it was a subsidiary title of the king of Sardinia. The only Marquis of Ivrea was Benedetto of Savoy (who later fought in the French Revolutionary wars). On May 26, 1800 Napoleon Bonaparte entered the city along with his victorious troops, establishing control that ended in 1814 after his fall.
Ivrea today is best known for its peculiar traditional carnival. The core celebration centres around the locally famous Battle of the Oranges. This involves some thousands of townspeople, divided into nine combat teams, who throw oranges at each other — with considerable violence — during the traditional carnival days: Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The carnival takes place in February; it ends on the night of "Fat Tuesday" with a solemn funeral. Traditionally, at the end of the silent march that closes the carnival the "General" says goodbye to everyone with the traditional phrase "See you next Fat Thursday at 1 p.m."
One of the citizens is elected Mugnaia. The legend has that a miller's daughter (the eponymous "Mugnaia") once refused to accept the "right" of the local duke to spend a night with each newly wed woman and chopped his head off. Today the carriages represent the duke's guard and the orange throwers the revolutionaries. Spectators are not allowed to throw oranges, but visitors are allowed to enlist in the teams. If they wear a red hat they are considered part of the revolutionaries and will not have oranges thrown at them.
Before oranges were thrown they used apples. Later, oranges came to represent the duke's chopped off head. The origin of the tradition to throw oranges is not well understood, particularly as oranges do not grow in the foothills of the Italian Alps and must be imported from Sicily. In 1994 an estimate of 265,000 kilograms (580,000 lb) of oranges were brought to the city, mainly coming from the leftovers of the winter crop in southern Italy.
In 2000–2005 Ivrea was visible on the design circuit as the seat of the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea, [1] located in the old Olivetti research building — the "Blue House" building. The school was moved to Milan in October 2005.
The town's football club, A.S.D. Montalto Ivrea, currently plays in Promozione Piemonte.