The elegant street that today links the two parts of Ivrea – the historic centre and the Olivetti industrial area – was conceived on 10th November 1858, when the final station on the railway line to Chivasso and Turin was inaugurated. Salvator Gotta begins his novel Ottocento with a description of this very day. From that moment on, what is now Corso Nigra began a new life.
The Unification of Italy was still a long way off, but many of the leading figures of the Risorgimento alighted from the first train to arrive in Ivrea. Travelling on the locomotive were the Prime Minister Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour (a great advocate of the railways), the Minister of War La Marmora and the Minister of Public Works, Commendatore Bona. In the carriages, alongside a crowd of people, was also Cavour’s young secretary, the Canavese-born and future Italian Ambassador Costantino Nigra. Some time later, he was sent to Paris on a secret mission and orchestrated the diplomatic masterstroke that would create the political conditions for the unification of the country. Despite his wish not to receive honors, the Corso della Stazione was named after him in 1900.
As well as linking the railway station to the city centre, this road also served to support the construction of the Ponte Nuovo, which was designed by engineer Guallini and opened in 1860. Stately homes were built, such as Villa Luisa and Villa Demaria. Following the construction of Palazzo Ravera in 1906, many renowned businesses and at least three hotel-restaurants were also added: the Universo, on the corner with what is now Via Jervis; the Nazionale; and, right in Palazzo Ravera next to the Ponte Nuovo, the Dora e Scudo di Francia, which opened in 1918. Not far from either the station or the red-brick factory, the Hotel Dora became one of the liveliest spots in the city and gave the whole neighbourhood a sophisticated, cosmopolitan feel. This area completed its transformation in 1957, when Adriano Olivetti, then Mayor, inaugurated the Camillo Olivetti Fountain, situated just beyond the Ponte Nuovo.
And it is precisely here that the ancient, historic, local Ivrea and Olivetti’s industrial, global Ivrea come together, whilst retaining their distinct identities.
