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Diocese of Ivrea

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Suffragan of Turin, Northern Italy. The city is situated on the right bank of the Dora Baltea and has a fine view of the Great St. Bernard. A city of the Salassi, it received a Roman colony in 90 B.C. In the Lombard period it was the seat of a dukedom. In 870 Emperor Guy of Spoleto gave the Mark of Ivrea to his brother Anscarius, whose descendants, especially Berengarius II (950) and Arduinus (1002), aspired to the title of King of Italy. Soon afterwards Ivrea had to contend vigorously for its communal freedom against the marquesses of Monferrat. Finally, in 1248, Frederick II gave it to the Count of Savoy. During the war between France and Spain for the possession of Lombardy there was, for a long time, a Spanish garrison in the fortress of Ivrea. By the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559) it was restored to the House of Savoy. It was besieged and taken by the French in 1554, 1641, 1704, 1796. In 1800 Lannes put the Austrians to flight at the pass of the Chiusella. There is a noteworthy festival at Ivrea, the burning of the scarlo (a tree decked out with fireworks), the origin of which is unknown. Legend traces the cathedral back to the middle of the fifth century, when the ancient temple of Apollo is said to have been consecrated to the service of the true God. It contains a valuable painting by Perugino. The episcopal see is said to have been established by St. Eusebius of Vercelli about the middle of the fourth century. The first historically certain bishop is Eulogius (c. 451). Among the other bishops were St. Veremundus (969); Hugo (1053), a son of King Arduinus; the Cistercian Peter (1305), afterwards transferred to Salonica; Alberto Gonzaga (1288); Giuseppe di Ceva (1614), who restored the episcopal palace and adorned it with paintings; also the present (1909) Archbishop of Turin, Cardinal Richelny, made Bishop of Ivrea in 1886. The diocese has 138 parishes, with 220,000 souls; 4 religious houses of men and 10 of women; 6 schools for boys, and 5 schools for girls, and a Catholic paper.