Day of celebration for about fifty members and sympathizers of the Vercelli section of the National Carabinieri Association visiting the Sanctuary dedicated to the Patroness of the Army.
THE NATIONAL CARABINIERI ASSOCIATION
The birth of the Carabinieri Association has its roots in the mutual aid experiences of civil society in the 19th century. In fact, on 1 March 1886, the Mutual Aid Society was set up in Milan among discharged and retired members of the Royal Carabinieri, with the aim of maintaining and strengthening the values and esprit de corps of the Carabinieri by promoting social, cultural and recreational. The Vercelli section in particular, which is preparing to celebrate its first hundred years of life having arisen shortly after the end of the First World War, gathers around two hundred members who actively take part in the initiatives of the section, both as regards linked to associations, cultural or recreational, but above all aimed at a constant commitment to volunteering.
THE SANCTUARY
The first references to the Church of San Giovanni Battista which stands on the highest point of Borgo Villa, in Incisa Scapaccino in the Asti area, date back to the first half of the 13th century (1254). During the sack of the city which took place in 1514, the Piedmontese artillery shells struck and destroyed the Church, leaving only the bell tower surviving. Rebuilt and enlarged, in February 1802, Giovanni Battista Scapaccino was baptized here, the first gold medal for military valor of the Carabinieri. For this reason, citizens and institutions worked to make it become the Sanctuary of the Virgo Fidelis, the Catholic name of Mary, mother of Jesus, chosen as the patroness of the Carabinieri Corps by Pope Pius XII in relation to the motto of the Corps “Over the centuries faithful ” becoming a pilgrimage destination for devotees and carabinieri from all over Italy.
THE MEDIEVAL VILLAGE
After the Holy Mass, concluded with the intense moment of spirituality of the reading of the touching “Preghiera del Carabiniere”, the participants visited the enchanting village, which dominates the hills of the Belbo valley. Of Roman origins, Incisa was first mentioned in medieval papers dating back to 984 and was the capital of a small Aleramic marquisate, founded in the 12th century, which remained autonomous, even though it passed from lordship to lordship, until 1548. In the Middle Ages, the inhabited center was the Borgo Villa, on the homonymous hill, surrounded by walls in which three doors opened, of which only one remains. After various enfeoffments to other families, in 1708 the entire territory was annexed to the Savoy domains. In 1863 Incisa became Incisa Belbo, to then change its name again in 1928, when the town took its current name in memory of Giovanni Battista Scapaccino, carabiniere, first gold medal of the Italian army.
ONE YEAR OF ACTIVITY FOR THE ANC
At the end of a banquet at a local agritourism, the president of the Section, Lieutenant Salvatore Trapani, wanted to draw up a balance sheet of the section’s activity, both as regards social volunteering and the Civil Protection Nucleus, which carried out numerous services of assistance at the aticovid vaccination centers and have intervened in various emergency situations.
In conclusion, the commitment was reaffirmed to work ever better at the service of others by making one’s time and one’s skills available to the community with a great sense of duty, a spirit of service and supportive closeness, sentiments which for two centuries have been inextricably linked to figure of the Carabiniere.