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ALESSANDRIA , a city and episcopal see of Piedmont,See also: Italy, capital of a province which bears its name, situated on the See also: river Tanaro, 57 M
.
E. by S. of See also: Turin by See also: rail
.
Pop
.
(1901) 71,298, of which about See also: half reside in the actual See also: town: the rest are distributed over the suburbs
.
Alessandria was founded in 1168 by the inhabitants of the See also: district in See also: order to defend themselves against the See also: marquis of Monferrato and the town of See also: Pavia, at whose See also: request it was besieged in 1174 by See also: Frederick See also: Barbarossa for six months, but without success
.
The Lombard See also: League now included it among the allied cities and named it Alessandria, after See also: Pope See also: Alexander III
.
The traditional account of its foundation by the Lombard League has been disproved by F
.
Graf, Die Griindung Alessandrias: ein Britrag zur Geschichte
See also: des Lombarden.bundes (1888)
.
After falling into various hands, it was ceded to See also: Savoy by the See also: peace of See also: Utrecht in 1713, and itskcitadel was begun in 1728
.
During the French occupation (1800-1814), which began after the See also: battle of See also: Marengo, it was still more strongly fortified; the See also: works were entirely destroyed by the Austrians in 1815, but were afterwards reconstructed, and Alessandria is still an important fortress and the headquarters of the second army corps
.
The citadel is on the See also: left See also: bank of the Tanaro, the town being on the right bank
.
It is regularly built and contains few buildings of architectural See also: interest, but is a flourishing and important commercial town, not merely owing to its own manufactures (which are See also: miscellaneous) but for the products of the district, and one of the greatest railway centres in Italy
.
Lines diverge from it to Turin via See also: Asti, to Valenza (and thence to See also: Vercelli, Mortara—for See also: Novara or Milan—and Pavia), to See also: Tortona, to Novi, ;.o See also: Acqui and to Bra
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