Province TO
Ivrea, TO
A town on the Dora Baltea at the mouth of the Aosta Valley and the main centre of the Canavese. Founded by Rome as Eporedia, it is best known today for Olivetti: the firm built factories, housing, schools and social buildings here, and that 20th-century industrial city was inscribed by UNESCO in 2018.
Sights
- Castello di Ivrea of 1357, a red-brick quadrangular castle with four round towers, built under Amadeus VI of Savoy
- Duomo di Ivrea, with 4th-century origins and Romanesque, baroque and neoclassical layers
- The Teatro Romano, remains of a 1st-century theatre from the Roman colony
- MaAM, the open-air museum of modern architecture along Via Jervis, through the Olivetti factories, offices and worker housing
- Ponte Vecchio, the stone bridge over the Dora Baltea on a Roman-era crossing
Things to do
- Walk the Via Jervis route rather than reading about it, the buildings only make sense in sequence
- Follow the Dora Baltea riverside between the old town and the industrial quarter
- Drink local Erbaluce, the white wine of the Canavese
Annual events
February, tied to Easter
Storico Carnevale di Ivrea
Teams on carts are pelted with oranges by crowds on foot across several squares, in the days before Ash Wednesday, ending on Shrove Tuesday. The dates move every year with Easter.
July
Festa patronale di San Savino
Patronal celebrations around 7 July with a horse fair and equestrian events.
When to visit
February for the carnival, if you accept crowds and thrown fruit. Otherwise late spring or September for walking the Olivetti route in comfort.
