Garbagna Novarese is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about southeast of Novara.
Garbagna Novarese borders the following municipalities: Nibbiola, Novara, Sozzago, Terdobbiate, and Trecate.
Etymology
It is mentioned for the first time in various documents dating back to between 840 and 1150, as Carpania. From 1150 the names Garbania and Garbagna also began to be used, while from 1367 only the latter remained. On May 31, 1863, it officially changed its name from Garbagna to Garbagna Novarese, to distinguish it from its fellow regional Garbagna d'Alessandria. Curiously, in some official documents it is repeatedly called Garbagno.
Regarding the origin of the name, it is believed that Carpania means a forest of càrpani (hornbeams), plants of the birch family that prefer dry soil: among the multitude of forests in the area at the end of the first millennium, that forest must have had an extremely interesting position, to the point of deserving a specific name.
Although not referring directly to the town of Garbagna, an alternative origin has been proposed by some linguistic studies, which have highlighted how the Indo-European root *(s)kerb(h)- ("to braid") has generated many words in current European languages. In particular, passing through the pre-Roman base *garb-, the Franco-Provençal word garbagna ("basket") was obtained.
Other interpretations claim that it derives from the Low Latin garbus ("bush"), thus meaning "wild and wooded place".
History
The history of Garbagna closely follows the history of nearby Novara.
Symbols The coat of arms and banner of the municipality of Garbagna Novarese were granted by decree of the President of the Republic on June 18, 1949. Coat of arms
Gonfalon
Geography
Territory
The soil is made up of alluvial gravel and gravelly-sandy deposits, together with silty and clayey material. Its morphology is mixed.
The northern-western section is part of a gravelly fluvioglacial alluvial terrace, the Novara-Vespolate Terrace. It is generally flat, mainly as a result of human intervention that has leveled the land for agricultural purposes, and slopes gently towards the south. The only interruptions correspond to the beds of ancient glacial drains, today identifiable with the paths of the streams Arbogna and Rì. The terrace's edges are contiguous in the municipality of Garbagna, while they are still connected in the municipal area of Novara, which is its northern boundary. Some isolated edges are found near the village center, but the difference in elevation compared to the surrounding plain has been virtually eliminated by urbanization.
The remaining part of the territory is flat.
Hydrography Main watercourses In the western part of the municipality flow the Arbogna stream, the Cavo della Mensa Vescovile and the Rì stream, as well as several smaller watercourses.
The Arbogna stream originates in Novara and collects rainwater and wastewater from the urban areas in the southern part of the municipality of Novara, also conveying agricultural runoff and spring water. It has a marked torrential character, with extremely variable flow rates: floods can be sudden, as they are linked to rainfall. The stream enters the municipality from the northwest, flowing between the edges of the Novara-Vespolate Terrace. Its course is essentially straight. In the section upstream of the Strada della Brusatina, it flows northwest/southeast, while downstream it veers north-south. It is only marginally contained by earth embankments, with the exception of the final stretch near the sewage treatment plant, where the embankments are more substantial.
The Cavo della Mensa Vescovile also flows through the Arbogna Valley. It originates from the Arbogna stream, still within the municipality of Novara, just above the border with Garbagna. The Arbogna stream, just downstream from farmstead Mariina, passes under the Cavo della Mensa via a siphon, after which the two streams flow parallel and side by side until farmstead Brusatina. The Cavo della Mensa Vescovile finally reaches Garbagna, passes under the SS 211 road, and is manhole-lined in some sections near urban areas. Based on morphological evidence, it is likely an ancient course of the Arbogna itself, later abandoned.
The other watercourse in the western territory is the Rì stream, which originates in the southern part of the municipality of Novara. It is used primarily for irrigation and as a rainwater conveyor. The Rì also represents an ancient drainage line, which, with alternating erosive and alluvial activity, has shaped the landscape of the territory.
At the eastern edge of the municipality flows the Rio Senella, a branch of the Terdoppio Lomellino stream, which originates just upstream in the territory of Sozzago. The Terdoppio originally flowed from the moraine hills of Divignano-Bogogno to its confluence with the Agogna. A weir built near Cerano around year 1000, to supply the town's agricultural and artisanal activities, led to its course being diverted over time. The area of the original riverbed still features numerous springs, almost as if to emphasize its ancient course. These springs flow into two main branches, the Rio Senella and the Rio Refreddo, which, just downstream (near Cassolnovo, in the hamlet of Villanova), reconstitute the Terdoppio stream, now known as the Terdoppio Lomellino.
Finally, the eastern part of the municipality is crossed by an important irrigation artery: the Quintino Sella Canal. Built in 1870, it originates from the Cavour Canal north of Novara and conveys water south and east, supplying it to the municipalities of Garbagna, Terdobbiate, and Tornaco. At Cilavegna, it forks into two sub-districts. With an estimated flow rate of approximately 12 m3/s, it is the main irrigation source in the area, distributing water to the lower-level canals and collectors.
Minor watercourses The territory is crisscrossed by a dense network of canals and ditches, generally artificial, which allow for agricultural irrigation by flooding. This is particularly true in the eastern part of the municipality, which is markedly different from the western part from a hydrographic perspective. The aforementioned Quintino Sella Canal and numerous springs feed much of this network of canals and artificial ditches.
Among the significant artificial canals, the Cavo dell'Ospedale is worth mentioning, with an old, long-abandoned riverbed. It flows in the section downstream from the railway, parallel to the road to Terdobbiate, then parallel to the SS 211 road until it crosses the Arbogna stream, downstream of which the riverbed has been eliminated.
Another irrigation canal is the Cavo del Comune di Vespolate, in the eastern part of the village. It passes under the road to Terdobbiate just west of the train station and flows towards Nibbiola, subsequently continuing alongside the SS 211 road and turning east along the southern border of the municipality.
Among the canals used for irrigation are the Roggia Molinara and the Cavo di Moncucco.
Artesian springs
The eastern part of the municipality features numerous springs, a peculiarity of the Novara plain. In the Garbagna area, the phenomenon is caused by artificial cuts in the soil, deep enough to reach the underlying water table (almost at ground level) and then convey it into specially constructed canals. Observation of the springs has allowed us to estimate the depth of the water table at 2-2.5 meters.
Proceeding from west to east the springs are: Borghetto spring: originates just north of the village, has a single head and a typical "teardrop" shape; it is covered along almost the entire length, along Via Colombo, from Via IV Novembre to the road to Terdobbiate, except for the first stretch; the covering was necessary to make the area buildable; Hospital spring; Roggiola spring: originates just west of the Quintino Sella Canal and has two heads.
Demography Documented inhabitants before the unification of Italy (1861):
In recent years, the municipality of Garbagna Novarese has seen the most significant relative demographic expansion in the whole of Piedmont, returning to the levels of a century ago; the population has in fact increased from 964 inhabitants in 2001 to 1326 in 2009. In particular, between 2007 and 2008 there was a growth of 176 inhabitants, corresponding to +15.6%. This has also led to a notable building development with the construction of many houses, mainly in the eastern area of the village.
Government
The administration periods prior to 1932 are not reported systematically by the current sources; the following list contains data of the available years.
Years Office holder Title Notes 1780 Giovanni Paolino Mayor 1797 Pietro Cerina Mayor 1799 Antonio Maria Bandi President of the municipal body 1826 Giovanni Cambieri Mayor 1831, 1832 Pietro Cerina Mayor 1834, 1835, 1838 Gaetano Robecco Mayor 1837, 1840 Cesare Morbio Mayor 1841, 1842, 1844, 1845 Enea Silvio Moretti Mayor 1846, 1847 Gioachino Montalenti Mayor 1849 Giovanni Battista Robecchi Mayor 1851, 1853, 1854, 1857, 1858 Carlo Cappa Mayor 1862, 1863 Giovanni Battista Robecchi Mayor 1865, 1866, 1869, 1870, 1873 Bartolomeo Manzini Mayor 1879, 1886, 1889 Costantino Bevilacqua Mayor 1896, 1899, 1907, 1910, 1916, 1919 Carlo Geri Mayor 1930 Carlo Geri Podestà
From 1932 onwards, however, the succession of administrations is much more precise.
Period Office holder Party Title Notes - September 1, 1932 Carlo Geri National Fascist Party Podestà September 2, 1932 1937 Carlo Angelo Allevi National Fascist Party Podestà 1937 1943 (at least) Francesco Magni National Fascist Party Podestà 1945 1948 Felice Pavesi Mayor 1948 1964 Emilio Tencaioli Italian Socialist Party Mayor 1964 1970 Gaudenzio Giarda Mayor 1970 1981 Mario Costadone Christian Democracy Mayor 1981 1987 Giacomo Manzini Christian Democracy Mayor Sources do not explicitly state that Giacomo Manzini was a Christian Democrat, however they indicate that he served as deputy mayor during the administration of Mario Costadone, who is known to be a member of that party. March 26, 1987 June 22, 1990 Giuseppino Boeri Christian Democracy Mayor June 22, 1990 April 19, 1993 Giuseppino Boeri Christian Democracy Mayor May 17, 1993 April 24, 1995 Giampiero Fornara Christian Democracy Mayor April 24, 1995 June 14, 1999 Giampiero Fornara Italian People's Party Mayor June 14, 1999 June 14, 2004 Giampiero Fornara Italian People's Party Mayor June 14, 2004 June 8, 2009 Davide Milanesi civic list Mayor June 8, 2009 May 26, 2014 Davide Milanesi civic list Mayor May 26, 2014 May 22, 2019 Matteo Manzini civic list: Obiettivo Garbagna Mayor May 22, 2019 September 20, 2020 Antonella Azzarello Prefectural commissioner September 20, 2020 incumbent Fabiano Trevisan civic list: Progetto Garbagna Mayor
Farmsteads
Just like the whole Bassa Novarese, Garbagna area is full with farmsteads, nerve centres of the rural activity.
The farmsteads outside the village have been considered over time as real hamlets of the municipality, and are currently reported as agglomerations by the municipal statute: Marijna, Belvedere, Brusattina, Moncucco, Buzzoletto Nuovo, Buzzoletto Vecchio, Cascinetta. The only farmstead within the village is Borghetto.
Twin towns Garbagna is twinned with: Rio Saliceto, since 2024 Trino, since 2024
Monuments and places of interest
Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo: parish church of the village, whose original oratory was erected by the Lombards, replaced at the end of the 16th century with the current building, in turn restored in the 17th century; in the early years of the 19th century the side naves were added; Monument to the Alpini and the Fallen: commissioned by the Alpini Group of Garbagna and inaugurated on November 10, 2001;