Novellara ( Reggiano: or ) is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Reggio Emilia The Province of Reggio Emilia ( it, Provincia di Reggio nell'Emilia, Emilian: ''pruvînsa ed Rèz'') is one of the nine provinces of the Italian Region of Emilia-Romagna. The capital city, which is the most densely populated comune in the provin ...

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and has a population of 13,670. It is north of

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

and has a railway station for the local train going from Reggio to Guastalla.

History

The current name comes from the medieval ''Nubilaria'', when the surrounding terrain was mostly covered by marshes, which favoured the formation of recurring

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...

s. The town was the seat of the Gonzaga family from the 13th century: here Guido Gonzaga, in the early 14th century, created an effectively independent lordship, which later evolved into the

County of Novellara and Bagnolo A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, including grossly what is now the communal territory of Novellara and the nearby

Bagnolo in Piano Bagnolo in Piano ( Reggiano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Reggio Emilia in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about northeast of Reggio nell'Emilia. Bagnolo in Piano borders the foll ...

After the Gonzaga's end, in 1728, the town passed to the Este of the

Duchy of Modena A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between " ...

, whose history Novellara followed until 1859, when it was annexed to the newly unified Italy.

Main sights

*The ''Jesuit Convent'' *''Chiesa Collegiata di Santo Stefano'' *The ''Rocca Gonzaga'' ("Gonzaga Castle"). This was built by

Feltrino Gonzaga Feltrino Gonzaga (c. 1330 – 28 December 1374) was an Italian condottiero, a member of the Gonzaga family. Biography He was the son of Ludovico I Gonzaga, the first ''capitano del popolo'' of Mantua, where Feltrino was born. In 1335 his troops c ...

starting from 1350, most likely over a pre-existing fortifications from Lombard times. *The ''Casino di Sotto'' and ''Casino di Sopra'', summer residences of the Gonzagas. The Gonzaga Museum houses a rare 16th century vases collection. *The main square (''Piazza Unità d'Italia'') with the ''Church of St. Stephen'', important work by

Lelio Orsi Lelio Orsi (1508/1511 – 1587), also known as Lelio da Novellara, was a Mannerist painter and architect of the Reggio Emilia school in northern Italy. He was born and died in Novellara, and much of his work was completed in Reggio. He appear ...

. In addition to this, Novellara is also home to the second largest

gurdwara A gurdwara (sometimes written as gurudwara) (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ''guradu'ārā'', meaning "Door to the Guru") is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths ...

in Europe. This reflects the presence of a very large

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

community, living in Novellara and nearby places, where they work mainly in cattle farms and dairies, where

Parmigiano Reggiano Parmesan ( it, Parmigiano Reggiano; ) is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cows’ milk and aged at least 12 months. It is named after two of the areas which produce it, the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia (''Parmigiano'' is ...

is made. As in other towns of the region, (e.g.

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

), streets are lined with characteristic arcades, intended to offer shade in summer and shelter from rain or snow.

Famous people

Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina Maria Teresa CyboThis is also sometimes spelt ''Cibo''.-Malaspina (29 June 1725 29 December 1790) was the sovereign Duchess of Massa and Princess of Carrara from 1731 until her death in 1790. She was the eldest child of Alderano I, Duke of Mass ...

, duchess of Modena, Reggio, Massa and Carrara, was born here in 1725. *

Augusto Daolio Augusto Daolio (February 18, 1947 – October 7, 1992) was an Italian singer, poet, and painter. He is the founding member and frontman of I Nomadi band. Daolio was born in Novellara, Emilia-Romagna. He founded Nomadi in 1963, together with Bep ...

, (1947-1992) singer and founder of the

Nomadi Nomadi (or I Nomadi, meaning "Nomads") is an Italian band formed in 1963 and still present on the music scene. Career Origins In 1961, Beppe Carletti and Leonardo Manfredini formed the group I Monelli (‘Urchins’). In 1962, Carletti met Franco ...

band. *

Vittorio Marchi Vittorio Marchi (30 May 1851, Novellara – 12 May 1908, Iesi) was an Italian neurologist and histologist. He studied pharmaceutical chemistry and medicine at the University of Modena, earning his doctorate in 1882. He was head of the histol ...

, (1851–1908), histologist *

, 16th century painter *

Luciano Pigozzi Luciano Pigozzi, also known professionally as Alan Collins (10 January 1927 – 14 June 2008), was an Italian character actor. A long-time staple of Italian genre cinema, Pigozzi was noted for his resemblance to Peter Lorre and appeared in s ...

, film actor *

Giaches de Wert Giaches de Wert (also Jacques/Jaches de Wert, Giaches de Vuert; 1535 – 6 May 1596) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance, active in Italy. Intimately connected with the progressive musical center of Ferrara, he was one of the lea ...

, composer of the Renaissance, lived and raised his family here from about 1550 to 1565. Baldassare Castiglione, famous humanist philosopher who was a count in Novellara.

Twin towns - sister cities

Novellara is twinned with: *

Nový Jičín Nový Jičín (; german: Neutitschein) is a town in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The historic centre of Nový Jičín is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservatio ...

, Czech Republic *

Neve Shalom Neve Shalom ( he, נְוֵה שָׁלוֹם, ''lit.'' Oasis of Peace), also known as Wāħat as-Salām ( ar, واحة السلام) is a cooperative village in Israel, jointly founded by Israeli Jews and Arabs in an attempt to show that the two p ...

, Israel *

Sancti Spíritus Sancti Spíritus () is a municipality and capital city of the province of Sancti Spíritus Province, Sancti Spíritus in central Cuba and one of the oldest Cuban European settlements. Sancti Spíritus is the genitive case of Latin language, Lat ...

, Cuba *

Santa Gertrudes Santa Gertrudes is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 2 ...

, Brazil *

Santo Stefano di Cadore Santo ('saint' in various languages) may refer to: People * Santo (given name) * Santo (surname) * El Santo, Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (1917–1984), Mexican wrestler and actor * Bob Santo or Santo, stage name of Ghanaian comedian John Evans Kwadw ...

, Italy

References

{{authority control Cities and towns in Emilia-Romagna Castles in Italy