Novara (; Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the region of Piedmont in Northern Italy, to the west of Milan. With a population of 103,238, it is the 2nd-largest city in Piedmont after Turin as of 2026. (On the search form, choose the statistical region of the municipality in the Area section, the Region, the Province, and the name of the Municipality)The file URL linking on technical dataset.
It is an important crossroads for commercial traffic along the routes from Milan to Turin and from Genoa to Switzerland.
Novara lies between the streams Agogna and Terdoppio in northeastern Piedmont, from Milan and from Turin. It is only from the river Ticino, which marks the border with the Lombardy region.
History
Novara was founded around 89 BC by the Romans, when the local Gauls obtained Roman citizenship. Its name is formed from Nov, meaning "new", and Aria, the name the Cisalpine Gauls used for the surrounding region.
Ancient Novaria, which dates to the time of the Ligures and the Celts, was a municipium and was situated on the road from Vercellae (Vercelli) to (Mediolanum) Milan. Its position on perpendicular roads (still intact today) dates to the time of the Romans. After the city was destroyed in 386 by Magnus Maximus for having supported his rival Valentinian II, it was rebuilt by Theodosius I. Subsequently, it was sacked by Radagaisus (in 405) and Attila (in 452).
Under the Lombards, Novara became a duchy; under Charles the Fat, a countship. Novara came to enjoy the rights of a free imperial city. In 1110, it was conquered by Henry V and destroyed, but in 1167 it joined the Lombard League. At the end of the 12th century, it accepted the protection of Milan and became practically a dominion of the Visconti and later of the Sforza. In the Battle of Novara in 1513, Swiss mercenaries defending Novara for the Sforzas of Milan routed the French troops besieging the city. This defeat ended the French invasion of Italy in the War of the League of Cambrai.
In 1706, Novara, which had long ago been promised by Filippo Maria Visconti to Amadeus VIII of Savoy, was occupied by Savoyard troops. With the Peace of Utrecht, the city, together with Milan, became part of the Habsburg Empire. After its occupation in 1734, Novara passed, in the following year, to the House of Savoy.
After Napoleon's campaign in Italy, Novara became the capital of the Department of the Agogna, but was then reassigned to the House of Savoy in 1814. In 1821, it was the site of a battle in which regular Sardinian troops defeated the Piedmontese constitutional liberals. In the even larger Battle of Novara in 1849, the Sardinian army was defeated by the Austrian army of Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz. This defeat led to the abdication of Charles Albert of Sardinia and to the partial occupation of the city by the Austrians. The defeat of the Sardinians can be seen as the beginning of the Italian unification movement.
A decree in 1859 created the province of Novara, which then included the present-day provinces of Vercelli, Biella, and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola.
The city of Novara had a population of 25,144 in 1861. Industrialisation during the 20th century brought an increase in the city's population to 102,088 in 1981. The city's population has changed little in subsequent years.
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, former president of Italy and Italian senator for life, was born in Novara in 1918.
During World War II, the Stalag 365 German prisoner-of-war camp was relocated from Włodzimierz in German-occupied Poland to Novara in September 1943. It held Italian POWs, and was dissolved in March 1944.
The city was the set for the 1971 film "The Working Class Goes to Heaven" by Elio Petri; the film was presented at Cannes Film Festival and has won multiple awards; its soundtrack was composed by Ennio Morricone, who also appears in a cameo.
Climate
Demographics
As of 2026, the population is 103,238, of which 49% are male, and 51% are female. Minors make up 14.5% of the population, and seniors make up 25.3%. (On the search form, choose the statistical region of the municipality in the Area section, the Region, the Province, and the name of the Municipality)The file URL linking on technical dataset.
Immigration As of 2025, of the known countries of birth of 98,631 residents, the most numerous are: Italy (82,896 – 84%), Morocco (2,129 – 2.2%), Albania (1,940 – 2%), Pakistan (1,843 – 1.9%), Peru (1,026 – 1%), Romania (919 – 0.9%), Bangladesh (825 – 0.8%), Nigeria (717 – 0.7%). (Click on 'View by country of birth', and on the search form, choose the statistical region of the municipality in the Area section, the Region, the Province, and the name of the Municipality)The file URL linking on technical dataset. +Foreign population by country of birth (2025)Country of birthPopulation2,1291,9401,8431,4011,026919825717715539489468410400361
Architecture
Novara's sights can be divided into two groupings. The city's most important sights lie within its historic centre, the area once enclosed by the city walls. However, several important sights also lie outside the line of the former city walls.
Novara has numerous churches and historic buildings; some of these have been restored over the years. The most significant architectural element is the majestic dome, 121 metres high, designed by the architect-engineer Alessandro Antonelli. Now known as the Basilica of San Gaudenzio, it was built in 1888. It has now become a symbol of the city and a distinctive sign of its panorama, observable from all the roads that lead to the city. The bell tower is also of particular interest; it was designed by Benedetto Alfieri, uncle of the more famous Vittorio Alfieri.
Historic centre The old urban core makes up the "Historic centre", situated in the district of the same name. Novara once had an encircling wall, which was demolished to permit urban development. Of the old wall, there remains only the Barriera Albertina, a complex of two neo-classical buildings that constituted the gate of entry to the city, the required passageway for those who travelled from Turin to Milan. After their removal, the walls were replaced by the present-day baluardi, the broad, tree-lined boulevards that surround the Historic Centre.
The centre of the religious life of the city is the Novara Cathedral, in the neo-classical style, also designed by Alessandro Antonelli. It rises exactly where the temple of Jupiter stood in the time of the Romans. Facing the Duomo is the oldest building in Novara today: the early Christian Battistero (Baptistry).
Close to the Duomo is the courtyard of the Broletto (the historic meeting place of the city council), the centre of the political life of the imperial free city of Novara. Overlooking the courtyard of the Broletto are the Palazzo del Podestà ("Palace of the Podestà"), Palazzetto dei Paratici ("Little Palace of the Paratici Family"), site of the Civic Museum and of the Gallery of Modern Art, the Palace of the City Council, and a building of the 15th century.
Not far from the Piazza della Repubblica (formerly Piazza Duomo) is the Piazza Cesare Battisti (known to Novaresi as the Piazza delle Erbe, "Herbs square"), which constitutes the exact centre of the city of Novara.
In Piazza Giacomo Matteotti stands the Palazzo Natta-Isola, seat of the province and of the prefecture of Novara. The landmark feature of this palace is its clock tower. Extending from this square is the via Fratelli Rosselli, along which is the Palazzo Cabrino, the official seat of the administrative offices of the city. As it was a Roman city, the street network of Novara is characterized by a cardo and a Decumanus Maximus, which correspond respectively to the present-day Corso Cavour and Corso Italia. The two streets cross at the so-called "Angolo delle Ore" (Corner of the Hours).
The city conservatory, Conservatorio Guido Cantelli, named after Novara's Guido Cantelli, is located in via Collegio Gallarini, 1 (facing largo Luigi Sante Colonna in the area between piazza Puccini and Novara's hospital). The conservatory, founded in 1996, was established in a building built in the 1700s, once known as the casone. In 1766, the building, after a donation from the Gallarini family, started to be used as a college. Between 1854 and 1905, several artistic features, such as coloured tiles and terracotta decorations on the facade were added.
The largest square is Piazza Martiri della Libertà (formerly Piazza Castello) dominated by the equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of Italy. Overlooking the Piazza Martiri is the Castello Visconteo-Sforzesco, built by the Milanese dukes Visconti and Sforza, and the Teatro Coccia. The Castello Visconteo-Sforzesco, once much larger than the complex that remains today, is surrounded by the Allea, one of the largest public gardens in Novara.
Other important squares are:
Largo Cavour, dominated by the statue of Cavour, recently restored. Piazza Garibaldi, the square facing the Novara Railway Station, also recently restored and featuring the statue of the hero of two worlds and a fountain with the statue of a mondina. Piazza Gramsci, formerly Piazza del Rosario, location, after the restoration of 2005, of the landmark statue of Icarus.
Outside the Baluardi Places of interest situated outside the belt of the baluardi include the Church of San Nazzaro della Costa, with its attached abbey, restored in the 15th century by Bernardino of Siena, and the Ossuary of Bicocca, in pyramidal form, which stands in the neighbourhood of Bicocca, in memory of the fallen soldiers of the historic battle of 23 March 1849, between the Piedmontese (Sardinia) and Austrians. Worthy of note are the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Saints Martino and Gaudenzio), built beginning in 1477 by the Augustinians, whose interior consists of a single nave with lateral chapels and paintings attributed to artists of the 15th century, among them Daniele de Bosis.
Religious buildings Chiesa di Ognissanti (12th century) Santa Maria delle Grazie, also known as San Martino (15th century) San Pietro al Rosario (1599–1618) San Marco (17th century) Oratory of San Giovanni Decollato (17th century) Santa Maria della Salute (17th century) Sant'Eufemia (17th century) Chiesa del Carmine (18th to 19th centuries) Nuova Chiesa di San Rocco (21st century)
Culture The city of Novara is home to the Geographical Institute De Agostini, which celebrated its centenary in 2001.
Festival and events 22 January: Novara celebrates annually the Feast of San Gaudenzio (Saint Gaudentius of Novara), the patron saint of Novara. Throughout the day, it is possible to visit the tomb of the saint and to obtain the typical roasted chestnuts, also known as marroni di Cuneo ("Cuneo chestnuts"). 23 March: Re-enactment of the 1849 Battle of Novara, with period uniforms and weapons. On 25 April, Liberation Day, as in many other Italian cities, the Novaresi organise numerous initiatives to commemorate the Italian resistance movement, and in particular, the partisans who fought around Novara and in the "Partisan Republic of the Ossola". Since 2001, Giovani Espressioni ("Young Expressions") has been held in Novara. This is a music festival for emerging young musicians, organised by Staff Millennium, a performance agency, of which Alessandro Marchetti is the artistic director. The "Espressioni Contest" is of special importance as a showcase for emerging bands that picks a winner every year. Among the noted artists who have participated are Negramaro, Caparezza, Finley, Vallanzaska, Extrema, and Blaze Bailey.