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BIELLA AND IVREA |
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A short train ride northwest from Novara, the provincial capital of
BIELLA is known for its wool industry, its periphery choked with mills
and the hilltop upper town with the mansions and villas of wool barons.
It's not an especially rewarding place, apart perhaps from its small
medieval quarter, reachable by funicular or by strolling up its many
arcaded lanes. But it does give access to the Santuario d'Oropa (daily
7.30am-noon & 2-6pm; free), a forty-minute bus ride northwest of Biella
at the foot of Monte Mucrone. Founded in the fourth century by St
Eusebio to house a black statue of the Madonna and Child, this is an odd
sort of attraction, and can't really compete with the sanctuary at
Varallo for sheer sensationalism. But it's the most venerated of
Piemonte's shrines, the main church an immense neo-Baroque concoction,
and it's a good starting-point also for walks into the surrounding
mountains. If you wish, you can stay at the sanctuary itself, which has
around 700 rooms . A cable car runs regularly up Monte Mucrone as far as
the (closed) Albergo Savoia , where a network of marked trails begins.
One of the nicest and easiest is to the Lago Mucrone , a small mountain
lake; more energetic is the hike up to the summit of Monte Mucrone
itself - a two-hour trek.
Biella's tourist office is at Piazza Vittorio Veneto 3 (Mon-Sat
9am-12.30pm & 3-6.30pm, Sun 9am-12.30pm; tel 015.351.128,
www.atl.biella.it ). Though you should definitely move on if you can,
you may need to stay overnight in Biella. The choice of hotels is
limited, but you could try the three-star Principe at Via Gramsci 4 (tel
015.252.2003; L120,000-150,000/¬61.98-77.47). If you do stay, swing by
La Baracca at Via Costa di Riva 11b, a nightclub and art gallery in a
converted nineteenth-century factory building that makes great use of
light and glass.
IVREA , to the southwest of Biella, is well worth a visit in the week
leading up to Shrove Tuesday, when there's a week-long carnival ,
featuring piping, drumming, masked balls, historic processions and
fireworks, culminating in a bizarre three-day "Battle of the Oranges"
when the whole town and hundreds of spectators turn out to pelt each
other with oranges; it's important to know that you have to wear a red
hat if you don't want to be a target. At the end of each day, the town
is covered in a thick carpet of orange pulp, and the following morning
there's a traditional handing out of polenta and cod. For a place to
stay , try the small Luca at Corso Garibaldi 58 (tel 0125.48.697;
L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48), or head 3km northeast out of town to the
Castello San Giuseppe at Chiaverano d'Ivrea (tel 0125.424.370;
L150,000-200,000/¬77.47-103.29), a four-star hotel in a converted
Carmelite monastery.
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