The Origins

The origins of San Giorgio Canavese are ancient (archaeological discoveries, traces of centuries of cultivation). The first document in which the village is mentioned is a certificate of donation in 1003 by Arduino of Ivrea. It talks about a "Curtis de Orco quae olim Curtis regia nominabatur, nunc vero ab loci incolis sancti Georgij castrum appellatur" ("Court" of the Orco, that was once named "Corte" Regia, and has since been renamed Castello di San Giorgio by the local people).

The history of San Giorgio in the second millennium is characterized by the tie with Biandrate’s counts. They came from the stock of Pombia (Novara)’s counts, as did the other Canavesan families (Valperga, San Martino, Masino, Castellamonte). The Biandrates installed themselves in San Giorgio, probably in twelfth century, where a castle was erected that still, after many modifications, dominates the area.

They were, in the beginning, direct vassals of the Emperor and subsequently of the Marquis of Monferrato. Together with San Giorgio’s "army men", the Biandrates took part in the violent Guelphic-Ghibelline war, which raged in 1300 in Canavese and which was efficaciously described in the opera named "De Bello Canepiciano" by the noted Pietro Azario.