Eugi Gufo's siteEugi Gufo

Novara is a pleasant Piedmontese town located almost on the border between Piedmont and Lombardy. In general, the organisation of its urban public spaces and the rhythm of life observable in the streets immediately reveal it to be a ?????, well-to-do provincial centre.

This does not mean, however, that Novara is unattractive. On the contrary, it is full not only of large, beautiful and important historic buildings (which specialised tourist and art guides undoubtedly describe better than I ever could), but also of often intriguing architectural contrasts. In many parts of the city I observed a mixture of styles and periods that prevents any single building from appearing entirely alien to the general character of its surroundings. There is almost always a gradual transition from the old to the modern.

Those who visit cities solely — or mainly — to see ancient buildings will find examples in Novara of varying quality. Quantity, too, is not lacking.

If anyone feels dissatisfied precisely because of the quantity, it would be wise not to confine oneself to the main streets. On the contrary, by choosing apparently less obvious routes one risks making rather strange and surprising discoveries. Such as, for instance, the seat of the Court of Novara hidden away in a decidedly secondary alley. It also pays to pay attention to small details.

The truly ancient local heritage, by contrast, is extremely minimalist. In these two photographs you can see roughly 95% of the Roman walls still present (or at least visible) in the city:

What can only be described as scandalous, however, is the condition of the Sforza Castle of Novara (13th—15th centuries). I would not have been surprised to find a castle severely damaged by time. Unfortunately, what I found was a castle «restored» by human hands. Between the second half of the 1980s and 2016, several major interventions were carried out with the aim of «recovering» the castle… Anyone who was unhappy with the early-2000s restoration of Teatro alla Scala would, when confronted with this profanation, have died of cardiac arrest:

For the rest, the city is to be considered charming and, at times, possessed of a healthy sense of humour. In what other city would you see Giuseppe Garibaldi gazing with indignation at a fountain coin-fisherman?

Among the more functional monuments stand out the street name plaques in the historic centre. Two models, both in marble, are particularly widespread. The first is a large rectangle with a carved frame (I do not recall having seen anything similar elsewhere in Italy):

The second model is almost square, also large:

Only once did I notice a simple low-cost metal plaque inserted into an inexplicable frame.

By now I thought I had seen every possible variation of bicycle parking over the years, yet Novara managed to surprise me even in this respect.

In the historic centre, clusters of bins for genuine separate collection of small waste are installed (with a very useful ashtray on top). I do not know whether everything is later thrown together, but at least it is not a single bag hidden beneath a lid with three holes (yes, that does happen).

Novara’s postmen move about not by car, but on tricycles, which I had previously considered typical of smaller municipalities.

In short, Novara is a small and tranquil provincial city well worth a visit. If your aim is to spend time somewhere pleasant yet undemanding, do drop by.