Mandello Vitta

The etymology of the name Mandello derives from the founder Rubaconte da Mandello, Podestà of the Comune of Novara during the 13th century, whose family originated from Mandello del Lario.

The name Vitta was added after the Italian Unification to distinguish Mandello Vitta from Mandello del Lario, a town and comune in Lombardy. Vitta was a family who owned fields and industries in the comune during the 19th century.

Before the foundation of the village, a Lombard settlement may have been present, as remains of a burial ground found here suggest.

In the territory of the comune, a cage cup (Coppa diatreta Trivulzio, 4th century) was found with no damage in a sarcophagus of Roman age. Now it is exposed at the Archaeological Museum in Milan. The inscription "BIBE VIVAS MULTIS ANNIS" ("Drink and you will live for many years") is a great sponsorship for wine produced in the nearby Novara Hills (Colline Novaresi).

The village of Mandello Vitta was founded by and named after the Podestà of Novara Rubaconte da Mandello, a native of Milan, but his family originated from Mandello del Lario (Province of Lecco). In the land not far from the river Sesia, along the medieval road named "Strada Biandrina" which connected Biandrate to Romagnano Sesia and to Valsesia, in the first decades of the 13th century, he decides to install a new "borgo franco". The aim of this new village was to ensure safe and fast connections from Novara to the Alps and to control the territory along the eastern bank of the river Sesia that was disputed with the rival Commune of Vercelli. Mandello Vitta features a 13th-century medieval tower that is still visible on the south-west side of the village and perfectly preserved (it is one of the architectural symbols of Mandello). The tower was originally intended for land control and toll payment.
Nearby the tower, the castle of Caccia, the family that controlled Mandello since the first years of 16th century, was built. Caccia owned the village until the 18th century. Then, the fiefdom was invested in the Vitta family, who deeply engraved the history of Mandello so that, after the Italian Unification, in 1863, the commune changed its name into Mandello Vitta (r.d. 8 aprile 1863, n. 1234).

In 1928 (r.d. 1 November 1928, n. 2590), the commune of Mandello Vitta merged with the neighbouring village of Vicolungo to form a new municipality, having both the seat of the Town Hall and the name Vicolungo. This political order lasted until 1954 (d.p.r. 24 December 1954) when the reconstitution of Mandello Vitta as an autonomous commune was decreed.

The land around Mandello Vitta can be considered roughly flat, although it gently descends from north to south. The maximum altitude is located at the border with municipalities of Sillavengo and Castellazzo Novarese and the minimum one is southwards on the border with Vicolungo and Casaleggio Novara.

The territory is rich in water streams, whether they come from the river Sesia or from natural springs. The roggia (irrigation canal) Busca touches the north-east side of the village in the direction of Castellazzo Novarese; roggia Biraga flows on the west and it constitutes the border with the municipality of Landiona. Besides these, water flows in streams, cables and smaller ditches that spread it all around the territory of Mandello Vitta. It's interesting to report the presence of the remains of a watermill near the village that, until a few decades ago, exploited the flow of the roggia Busca.

Mandello Vitta is mainly surrounded by rice fields, a cereal widely cultivated in the Province of Novara, which creates during the irrigation period the peculiar "mare a quadretti" (square or checkered sea) of the Novarese rice fields.

The typical cuisine is connected to the local agricultural and farming products (rice, salami, cheese). Among them: paniscia (a rice-based dish originally of the Provinces of Novara and Vercelli), "Salam d'la Duja" (a salami seasoned in fat), "tapulon" (minced meat), goose or ribs with savoy cabbage, roasted duck, "frittura dolce", gorgonzola cheese, the traditional «bagnetto verde» (savoury green sauce) and fried frogs.

Main roads are two: the Strada Provinciale SP15/I from Borgo Vercelli to Carpignano Sesia, which does not cross the village, and the SP14 that crosses Mandello Vitta connecting the abovementioned SP15/I to SP 299 "della Valsesia" passing through Castellazzo Novarese. From the latter, 500 m outside the village in the direction of Castellazzo Novarese, a road allows to connect Mandello Vitta with Casaleggio Novara.

Multiple rural roads exist to reach fields and many farmhouses, such as Biola, Flecchia, Gagliarda, Moranza, San Rocco, Cascina delle Oche, Eurosia (Bröss [brøs] in local dialect).

The bus line Novara-Biandrate-Vercelli can take passengers to the capital city of Novara in about half an hour.

The municipal territory is crossed by the railway line Biella–Novara railway, however Mandello does not have a railway station. Nearest stations are in Casaleggio and Carpignano Sesia.

Between 1884 and 1993, Mandello was served by the Vercelli-Biandrate-Fara tramway.