Novara — the city in the countryside a stone's throw from Milan

If you visit Milan, you also think about passing from Novara, which is just 30 min by train from the Lombard capital. I would call Novara a small big city. It is the rather big city (out of curiosity I visited the page of Piedmont according to which Novara has almost 100,000 inhabitants), but at At the same time it is a very quiet and liveable city.

It is very pleasant to walk around its center where I always take my first steps. I love observing the details of the arcades of the nineteenth-century buildings, wandering around the delightful squares and alleys covered with cobblestone. I like to look at the shop windows that alternate with the ice cream shops and pastry shops that display the boxes with the biscuits of Novara.

My compulsory stop is the Basilica of San Gaudenzio with its characteristic dome pointing into the sky. The dome dominates the city and is clearly visible from many kilometers, especially when it is illuminated. When I return by train from Milan and I see it from afar, I already feel at home.

I really like the Broletto, the ancient seat of the Palazzo del Comune consisting of four buildings around a courtyard. It seems that from one moment to the next people of ladies and knights, even if I don't know what time, because the Palaces of Broleto come from different eras. In its courtyard is the well where in the fourteenth century the Novara threw various documents thinking of getting rid of taxes. Clever guys!

Another mandatory stop is Piazza delle Erbe surrounded by the columns of the suggestive arcades. Except it's really hard not to go through it when you're downtown. I like the fact that it's officially called Piazza del Cesare Battisti, but everyone continues to call it Piazza delle Erbe. Not far from the Piazza (to tell the truth all the interesting places are close) is Corso Cavour, one of the arteries of Novara overlooking elegant shops, some eighteenth-century palaces and the church of Monserrato.