ALESSANDRIA in 1707 – The principal churches. Engraving by J. Leopoldo. – Library of the National Institute of Archaeology and Art.
cesi. It then came under Spanish rule until 1706, when it became part of the possessions of the House of Savoy.
A. is the most populous city in Piedmont after Turin, with 270 municipalities, and is the capital of a wealthy province.
The diocese of A., situated between those of Casale, Vigevano, Turin, Acqui, and Asti, was established as a suffragan see of Milan around 1175. Its principal patron is St. Baudolino, a hermit who lived at Villa del Foro. His body was transported to A. when the inhabitants of Villa del Foro settled there in order to establish the new city, where a church was erected in his honor. The primitive diocese is said to have been formed from Rovereto or Roboreto, a castle that constituted the nucleus of the new city, and from seven other settlements that helped found II. The first bishop, Arduino, was not consecrated. In 1180 Alexander III decreed that the government of the diocese should be entrusted to the bishop of Acqui, who was to be called Alexandrian. The union did not take place because it was painful to the people of Acqui. Reintroduced in 1206, in name but not in fact, it was dissolved in 1240 by Gregory IX, who restored A.’s autonomy. There was, however, no bishop, and episcopal government was for some time exercised by the archdeacon as representative of the chapter. In 1405 the diocese was reorganized by Innocent VII. Following the annexation of Piedmont to France, Pius VII confirmed, by a brief of 1805, the imperial decree suppressing the diocese, which was incorporated into Casale. It was reestablished in 1817 and declared a suffragan see of Vercelli.
The cathedral, dedicated to St. Peter, was built in 1178 and rebuilt toward the end of the thirteenth century; it was demolished in 1803 by the French authorities occupying A. The new cathedral was built between 1808 and 1810. The ancient church of S. Maria Castello, dating from the twelfth century, has been preserved in its essential lines, recently brought to light by restoration work, and presents an interesting and picturesque apsidal side.
Among the diocese’s numerous monasteries are the Benedictine abbeys of S. Michele and S. Giustina and S. Maria di Castello. St. Pius V (Michele Ghislieri) was born at Bosco Marengo, near A.
The city’s patroness is the Madonna delle Salve. Until the end of the eighteenth century, a solemn religious ceremony was held in A. on Good Friday, known as «il mortorio di Cristo».
The diocese covers an area of 754 sq. km., with 138,000 inhabitants, of whom 137,750 are Catholics; it comprises 26 municipalities in the province of A., 198 churches, 66 parishes, and 135 diocesan priests.
BIBLI: We refer to the fundamental work of A. Manno, Bibliografia storica degli Stati della monarchia di Savoia. II, Turin 1891, pp. 118–74; we cite only: Ughelli, IV, pp. 312–26; G. Casalis, Diz. stor., stat., comm., degli Stati di S. M. il Re di Sardegna. I, Turin 1833, p. 182 ff.; P. B. Gams, Series episcoporum ecclesiae catholicae, Regensburg 1873, p. 811; F. Gasparolo, Dissertazioni storico-critiche sopra A., Alessandria 1887; F. Savio, Gli antichi vescovi d’Italia. Il Piemonte dalle oresini al 1300, Turin 1898, pp. 2, 22, 66–68, 590; Eubel, I, p. 82; II, p. 96; III, p. 115; J. Fraikin, s. V. in DNG, II, cols. 369–74. See also Rivista di Storia, arte, archeologia della provincia di Alessandria, published there since 1802 by the Alessandria Section of the Royal Subalpine Deputation of Homeland History.
Noemi Crostarosa Scipioni