Ivrea is not on any touristic map, and it is only famous for the Battle of the Oranges, when thousands of people throw oranges at each other in the city center during carnivale.
But for me it is different. During the 2nd part of 1990 I lived in this city, and I had the best time of my life. And I missed the battle of the oranges, not even witnessed it.
Later I will tell why I had such a great time here, and why this short period has changed my life. First I must explain why this place remains so unnoticed.
At the entrance of the famous Aosta valley, which leads to Europa's most beautiful mountain, the Matterhorn, you find the old city of Ivrea. The Ivrea region is at the foot of the Alpes and it is full of romantic sceneries, rivers and lakes. Very beautiful winding roads through forests, especially nice in autumn colours and in winter days when the trees are fragile white.
The Aosta region is famous for its wine, its food and skiing.
Ivrea is an old city, and it is full of history, from the Roman Empire up to the Olivetti Empire.
Here a drawing made by famous mapmaker Blaauw in the 17th century.
Ivrea was host to the headquarters of Olivetti, with 90.000 employees, until the 90's.
The city has remainings everywhere from all periods, but of course most are from the Olivetti era, when the company started to build its empire at the south-west side of the city.
The Olivetti buildings are considered architectural gems. Many offices and and even facturies have been designed by well known architects.
The city center looks as if it has not changed for centuries.
The Dora Baltea river is crossing the city. Sometimes almost dry, sometimes with enormous quantities of water, squeezed through a narrow point, where Ponte Vecchio is build.
It is a very peculiar setting, where immediately after this funnel is a flat area where the water calms down, and on the right another river enters and has formed a cataract used for canoeing championships.
The reason that this city is not a turistic attraction, like Bergamo, can only be guessed. First of all, it seems that the sky is often unclear, hazy, as you can see on most pictures of the city. It does give it a moody expression. Lets say that the light is not good.
The 2nd reason could be, that, although it has so much beautiful and peculiar details, the total seems quite dis-harmonic. You know, when you want to make a photo, but you will never find the right angle or right spot. Ivrea is entirely like that. It seems that each charm is surrounded be some ugly spots. And the river with its milky-green color does not help to make it more photogenic.
It seems as if it has never been the plan to create a charming, fine city. It seems to be an unpolished gem.
Actually, if you look at photos from the past, i.e. old postcards, you see that it was very beautiful a century ago. It used to be taken care of, with wonderful pavement, nice trees, a clean river border, all well maintained. Like in many other old cities, a lot has been destroyed to create infrastructure for cars.
But the inhabitants are happy. Because of Olivetti, the people of Ivrea are from everywhere, including many from the south.
The city has a famous carnival and the big event is the Battle of the Oranges, when people throw 200.000 kg of oranges at each other.
Ivrea is not on any touristic map, and it is only famous for the Battle of the Oranges, when thousands of people throw oranges at each other in the city center during carnivale.
At the entrance of the famous Aosta valley, which leads to Europa's most beautiful mountain, the Matterhorn, you find the old city of Ivrea. The Ivrea region is at the foot of the Alpes and it is full of romantic sceneries, rivers and lakes. Very beautiful winding roads through forests, especially nice in autumn colours and in winter days when the trees are fragile white.
Ivrea is an old city, and it is full of history, from the Roman Empire up to the Olivetti Empire.
The Olivetti buildings are considered architectural gems. Many offices and and even facturies have been designed by well known architects.
The city center looks as if it has not changed for centuries.
The Dora Baltea river is crossing the city. Sometimes almost dry, sometimes with enormous quantities of water, squeezed through a narrow point, where Ponte Vecchio is build. 
The reason that this city is not a turistic attraction, like Bergamo, can only be guessed. First of all, it seems that the sky is often unclear, hazy, as you can see on most pictures of the city. It does give it a moody expression. Lets say that the light is not good.
Actually, if you look at photos from the past, i.e. old postcards, you see that it was very beautiful a century ago. It used to be taken care of, with wonderful pavement, nice trees, a clean river border, all well maintained. Like in many other old cities, a lot has been destroyed to create infrastructure for cars.