Sant’Andrea e il suo contesto urbano: topografia, evidenze archeologiche e documentarie, tra età romana e medioevo (in collaborazione con G. Ardizio, F. Garanzini)

[Machine translation] The contribution examines the topographic and settlement evolution of the area of the canonical abbey of Sant'Andrea Vercelli. In Roman times, the area, located on the northwestern edge of 'Vercellae' and subject to flooding by the Cervo stream, housed a public thermal plant and hydraulic infrastructure. The excavations attest to a stable occupation between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD, while at the moment there are no late-ancient and early medieval stratigraphic levels, probably due to subsequent land removal. Better known are the events of the site starting from the central centuries of the Middle Ages, when the area was part of the 'burgus Ciglanus'. In 1169, a church of Sant'Andrea was already certified, then incorporated into the city walls and finally demolished by the Municipality in 1240 to strengthen the defensive ditches. In this urban sector, now included in the wall circuit, in 1219 Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, after having activated an intense campaign of land purchases, began the construction of the rectory, of which the essay investigates the material structures and the organization of the interior spaces based on written sources (published and archival). These identify the boundaries of the complex and the cloistered environments linked to the daily life of the canons: the church, the cloister, the chapter house, the parlor, the dormitory (connected directly to the transept), the refectory and the infirmary (with the room for the bloodletting). The essay also explores the management of spaces open to lay people and those in need, such as external alms.