Biella - Piemonte Feel

They say that people from Biella always have a valise handy and are always ready to get themselves the finest kinds of wool, whether it be anywhere along the Cordillera of the Andes or on the high plateaus of Kashmir. Then, the wool comes to Biella where it is processed with the most sophisticated machines by the best workers in the business. Rich in water and well exposed to the sun, the Biella area has the best conditions of ideal humidity for weaving wool. This unique combination has made the fortunes of many Biella wool producers – such as Zegna, Barbera, and Piacenza – who have chosen to concentrate on the absolute quality of precious material that the great couture houses often use for their creations.

There is an important patrimony of industrial sites and their connected infrastructure that are the fruit of an activity that has been developed over twenty centuries of history. All this bears witness to the current vitality of the textile industry. The craft of wool working was already widespread during the Middle Ages, so much so that it was regulated by specific laws in the statutes of the city of Biella. After 1817 wool manufacturing because a real industry when Pietro Sella introduced the first machinery in his family wool plant at Vallemosso. The growth of numerous firms in the years thereafter is a source of pride for the city as it is for Piedmont in general.

Biella is situated at the mouth of the Elvo, Oropa and Cervo valleys. It has three boroughs: Biella Piazzo, the upper part; Biella Piano, on the right bank of the Cervo River; and Biella Chiavazza, on its left bank. Biella has very ancient origins and has been at the centre of important historical events. Two of its citizens, Alfonso La Marmora and Quintino Sella, distinguished themselves during the Risorgimento, the unification era of Italy. In 1927 Biella began to be administrated from Vercelli, but became capital of its province in 1996.

There are numerous historical and artistic monuments in the city. Its Duomo or cathedral was built in 1402. There is the Renaissance-era cloister of the former monastery of San Sebastiano, the present home of the Museo del Territorio, the area museum. The Baptistery, one of most characteristic constructions in Lombard Romanesque art, was built in the second half of the tenth century on the ruins of a Roman cemetery. There are the Palazzo Scaglia, a sixteenth-century residence, and the Palazzo della Cisterna. The Palazzo Ferrero della Marmora is the historical residence that belongs to the family of that name, a family that has contributed illustrious men to religion, politics, and the armed forces.

Biella is also a modern city that is sensitive to the needs of youth and their university and professional education. The Città Studi, the city of studies, plays an important role as one of the most important centres of industrial culture in Italy. The Fondazione Pistoletto is a city of art, a foundation located at an ex-textile mill that offers a well-articulated panorama on the most recent artistic tendencies.

Info
Via Battistero, 4 - 13900 Biella
Tel. +39.015.35071 - Fax: +39.015.3507508
www.comune.biella.it