Canon EOS 250D | 24mm | 1/500s | f/5.6 | ISO 100 Taken on 08/03/2020. Extraordinarily rich museums, fascinating churches and a lively and elegant historic centre await you in Vercelli—one of the most wonderful surprises of Piedmont. Founded by the Celts and colonised by the Romans in the 2nd century BC, Vercelli first occupied by the Lombards and then by the Franks, before allying itself with Milan and forming part of the Lombard League in 1167. In the 13th century, Vercelli became a free municipality, controlling a large extensive area from the Alps to River Dora Baltea and thereby becoming one of the most important centres in the north of the peninsula. In the first half of the 14th century, having been passed to the Visconti, then to the Savoys and the Spanish, the city experienced decades of poverty as a result of the periods of famine and sieges that devastated it. However, following the victories of Napoleon and the annexation to France, Vercelli was reborn: new public buildings were built, avenues created along the perimeter of the ancient walls, and foundations laid for its economic development in the agricultural sector which – after the Italian unification and the World Wars – is today considered Europe's rice capital. This is thanks to its prime location in the middle of the Piedmontese–Lombard rice-growing area, boasting the largest surface area planted with rice in all of Europe thanks to a network of ancient canals – constructed from the 13th century onwards – that brings water from the Po, the Dora Baltea, the Sesia, the Cervo and the Elvo rivers to irrigate the rice paddies. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: Vercelli can be arrived at by train from Turin, Milan, Pavia and Novara. ______________________________________ #Vercelli #IgersVercelli #Ig_Vercelli #Architecture #Italia #Italy #ThePrettyCities #Colours #Balconies #Insta_International #Italy_Illife #BeautifulMatters #VSCOItaly #CharmingItaly #LaBellaVita #Italy_Creative_Pictures #TravelAwesome #LeisureTravel #Ig_Italy #Ig_Piemonte #Piedmont #Piemonte #TheHub_Italia #Piemonte_PhotoGroup #ItalyGram #HuntGramItaly #ItalyTour #BeMoreItalian #FramesOfItaly (at Vercelli) https://www.instagram.com/p/CH5MVehFaOF/?igshid=j5aebwnmz3fw