Pella: Traces of Craftsmanship and History

If you are looking for a hotel in Pella, the town’s history can provide a concrete point of reference when choosing your destination. Its themes range from bridges and churches to former crafts and historic routes. Architectural history and everyday history sit side by side: these include a dated arch bridge, a religious complex with Stations of the Cross chapels, and the former use of the Pellino for work and electricity. The Scala Santa route and the Pella–Centonara route also differ in their waypoints. Pella thus brings together several cultural and historical themes that can be considered separately when planning your trip.

Bridges, Water and Former Work

The Ponte sul Pellino is an arch bridge dating from 1578. It bears the inscription “Magrioha-ninusde rugis fecit” and formerly served as a link to the nearby San Rocco cemetery. A single tower from Pella’s medieval defensive system remains on the lakeside promenade near Piazza Motta. It is privately owned and visible from the outside.

Pella’s covered washhouse is also connected to the Pellino: the stream supplied it with water. Local women used it to wash clothes when storms or rain prevented them from going to the lakeshore. Another historic use of water is shown by the former Cartiera Sonzogno in Pella. It used the water to power two dynamos, which supplied electricity to the mill and some of the town’s streetlights. Until 1907, the Sonzogno paper mill employed more than a hundred workers and produced paper for Milan’s Sonzogno publishing house.

The Monumento agli Scalpellini commemorates granite working, once the predominant craft of the local population. Paper production and stoneworking thus represent two different aspects of former work: using water to generate electricity and working granite.

Religious Buildings and Art

The San Filiberto complex includes the oldest chapel on the western shore of Lake Orta; it was built around the 11th century. Fourteen chapels dating from 1794 surround the complex and depict the Stations of the Cross. There is also a Romanesque bell tower dated between 1075 and 1110. The Stations of the Cross chapels therefore date from a significantly later period than the early chapel and the bell tower.

At Pella’s parish church, the Chiesa Parrocchiale di Sant'Albino, a granite lintel bears the year 1591 as the date of construction. Inside, to the right of the entrance, is Perraccino’s painting “La Presentazione.” The Oratorio di San Giulio, also called Natività di Maria Santissima, is a small church in the woods of the hamlet of Ronco Sopra. The Chiesa di San Defendente in Ronco Sotto is a historic reminder of the movement of artists along the old mule track between Valsesia—or Colma—and the lake.

Waypoints and Routes

On the Scala Santa route, after about 800 metres you reach a wooden bridge over the Pellesina stream; after another 500 metres, you arrive behind Pella’s church. The Pella–Centonara route starts beside the church on a mule track towards Ventraggia. The two routes therefore offer different points of reference for comparison: the Scala Santa route focuses on the sequence of waypoints and two distances, while the Pella–Centonara route focuses on the starting point and the direction of its first section.

Discover more destinations: Casaleggio Novara, San Maurizio D'opaglio, Nebbiuno, Varallo Pombia, Silvera, Bellinzago Novarese, Veruno, Marano Ticino

For the broader travel overview: Novara.