A brief history

The Department is housed in renovated historic buildings, all of which are located close to the historic centre, the train and bus stations.

• the current Sant'Andrea convent wing: once it was the conventual area of the Abbey of Sant'Andrea (via G. Ferraris, 116)
• Palazzo Tartara and the former Ospedaletto: once they were an integral part of the historic Ospedale Maggiore (via G. Ferraris 109)
• San Giuseppe campus: this once housed the College of the same name (piazza S. Eusebio 5)
• Library: located in a wing of the historic Avogadro di Collobiano building (via G. Ferraris 54).

Sant'Andrea convent wing

This was once the convent area of the abbey of the same name, including the church, cloister and adjoining abbey buildings.

Built between 1219 and 1227 - following the foundation of the abbey by Cardinal Guala Bicchieri (Vercelli, ca. 1160-Rome 1227) of a powerful pro-imperial family - the church, consecrated in 1224, maintains its original structure, unchanged.

The University of Eastern Piedmont has been loaned from the Municipality of Vercelli the premises that now house:

• the Management offices
• the Aula Magna or Crypt of Sant’Andrea
• classrooms, some teachers' offices and seminar rooms.

The inauguration of the university was held in the spring of 2000, at the end of the restoration project which began in October 1998.

(For further information: "Past future. The places of the University of Eastern Piedmont Amedeo Avogadro", edited by G. Bona and G. Cantino Wataghin, Gallo Arti Grafiche, Vercelli, 2002; "Carta Studii et Scolarium Commorancium in Studio Vercellarum. Around the first document of the medieval University of Vercelli”, University of Eastern Piedmont Amedeo Avogadro, Gallo Arti Grafiche, Alessandria Novara Vercelli, 2005).

Palazzo Tartara and the former Ospedaletto

Both buildings were part of the ancient Ospedale Maggiore, founded in 1224 by Cardinal Guala Bicchieri. Initially, the main functions of the hospital were as a shelter for pilgrims and the poor, distribution of alms and hospitality for cleric-students. This was the place where mainly students were hosted, and it was here that the first nucleus of the Studium was formed, the University of Vercelli, built in 1228. The Studium Vercellese was formed thanks to the migration of students and teachers from Padua: a peculiarity of the Studium was that theology (as in Paris) and law (as in Bologna) were taught, as well as medicine, dialectics and grammar.

The current buildings survived the demolitions which, between 1962 and 1965, wiped out a large part of the historic Ospedale Maggiore complex.

In Via G. Ferraris is Palazzo Tartara, designed by engineer Ettore Tartara in the years 1867-1868 and originally the hospital administration headquarters. The building now houses the computer labs on the ground floor, while the upper floors, currently under renovation, will house the teachers’ offices and classrooms.

In the internal courtyard, perpendicular to Palazzo Tartara, there is the wing known as the “Ospedaletto” dating back to the second half of the nineteenth century and used as a pediatric ward, now completely renovated. Here there are some classrooms for Department courses

(For further information: "Past future. The places of the University of Eastern Piedmont Amedeo Avogadro", edited by G. Bona and G. Cantino Wataghin, Gallo Arti Grafiche, Vercelli, 2002; "Carta Studii et Scolarium Commorancium in Studio Vercellarum. Around the first document of the medieval University of Vercelli”, University of Eastern Piedmont Amedeo Avogadro, Gallo Arti Grafiche, Alessandria Novara Vercelli, 2005).

San Giuseppe teaching premises

This is a large structure, spread over three floors, and once housed the religious seminary of San Giuseppe.
Nowadays it is home to the University of Eastern Piedmont, to its teaching campus (humanities and sciences).
The courses of the Vercelli campus are held in these premises. The building hosts the Department of Sustainable Development and Ecological Transition.