Borgo Vercelli

Until 1804 the village was called Bulgaro, after the family that held it for centuries and is said to have come from Bulgaria in the early middle ages. In their castle, in 1232, a truce was signed between Novara and Vercelli and the lands that depended on each.

In 1403 the plague was cutting the village down. When word came that the relics of Sant'Evasio were being carried back to Casale, the leading men made a vow: if the saint stopped the contagion, they would go and thank him. The story goes that Sant'Evasio himself was among them that evening, in the guise of an old man. The vow is still paid: every year, on the eighth of September, a delegation goes down to Casale cathedral.