Podere Prati Breja.
Where water leaves a memory
In G. Portigliotti’s drawing of 1733, «Prati dell’Ospitale» and «Rovatella» emerge within the same landscape of irrigation channels, meadows and fertile land. It is an ancient geography, shaped by water and preserved in writing, from which this account of Podere Prati Breja begins.
Before rice, a land already precious.
Before it had the name by which we know it today, this place already had a voice: the voice of water.
It ran through channels, fed the meadows, crossed sluices and gates, and set boundaries and working times. Archive documents now allow us to follow its traces across more than eight centuries.
Long before Podere Prati Breja assumed its present form, these lands were already fertile, sought after and entrusted to the written record. Purchases, tenancies, waterworks and rural buildings shaped, generation after generation, a place made to endure.
The road that crosses the centuries.
A road already entrusted to memory. On 10 December 1087, the name Subtemoneta surfaces in the records of Pernate: an ancient trace along the route that would become Via Moneta.
Water and road have met here for centuries. The bridge on the ancient Mediolanum–Alpis Graia route, known as Via Moneta, belongs to a landscape of passage, exchange and work: a brick crossing that continues to accompany the fields of Podere Prati Breja.
In praedicto loco et fundo Pernate iacet a loco qui dicitur Subtemoneta.
The Latin wording places an already recognisable site within the territory of Pernate. From that ancient threshold begins the story of a land where water, roads and cultivation have always shared a common destiny.
Land precious enough to merit a written record
Sources from 1178 and 1197 take us into the heart of the lands that now belong to Podere Prati Breja: irrigated meadows, water to be channelled and plots beside the Terdoppio stream.
On 11 March 1178, a register of the Ospedale records the purchase of three moggia of land near the Terdoppio stream. In this irrigated landscape, to acquire land was also to preserve its value in the most enduring form: on paper.
On 9 May 1197, the Codice Vetus records a meadow in Praellis and the right to channel water through a canal «oltre la Rolta»—beyond the Rolta. In a few lines, the landscape takes precise form: a meadow, an irrigation channel, a new channel and an already recognised water right.
During the thirteenth century, Rolta and Rotella recur alongside channels, mills, bridges and aqueducts; in 1292, a dispute describes a sluice with two lifting gates. From Rolta and Rotella, through the form Roatella, the name Rovatella gradually emerged: different spellings preserving a continuous historical, territorial and practical thread.
In the thirteenth century, records of the Ospedale Maggiore della Carità di Novara show how carefully these lands were managed. Fertile meadows, water, sluices and irrigation rights were acquired, named and committed to paper so that their value would not be lost. These pages already reveal the agricultural promise of Podere Prati Breja: land made generous by water and care.
9 May 1197beyond the Rolta
… cum iure ducendi aquam
per canale de ultra Roltam
ad ipsum pratum …
The ancient name of a fertile land
In medieval sources, brayda or braida denotes open, fertile land: a meadow or field intended for cultivation. It is a word that seems already to contain the vocation of this landscape.
The records do not preserve a single, fixed spelling. In 1771, the form Breja appears clearly; during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, administrative records turn Breja into Breia. Today, our family has recovered the historic form Breja—earlier than Breia—and restored it within the name Podere Prati Breja. Not an invented name, but a word returned to its land.
Breja, the name recovered
On 29 April 1771, the place name enters the administrative record with clarity. A deed locates an irrigated parcel in the area «al Terdoppio, o sia alla Breja»—“by the Terdoppio, that is, at Breja”.
In later documents the spelling changes: Breja becomes Breia, as records from 1881 and 1913 attest. Today we have chosen to bring the historic form Breja back to light and restore it to the centre of the name Podere Prati Breja.
«Al Terdoppio,
o sia alla Breja.»
Prati Breja, written by hand
This small label preserves the name of the estate in its most intimate form: simple, personal handwriting created to accompany the land and the work of every day.
Beside the 1771 quotation, it makes visible the historic form we have chosen to bring back to light in the name Podere Prati Breja.
Podere Prati Breja takes shape
On 28 March 1842, an appraisal describes the «Cascinale Prati Breja» through its materials: oak beams, large terracotta tiles, brackets and the masonry of the stable. The records speak not only of a building; they reveal the practical care required to shape a substantial agricultural estate.
In 1857, Lorenzo Monti, tenant of Podere Prati Breja, transferred to the Ospedale Maggiore della Carità di Novara the rural building he had erected on the institution’s land. The appraisal evokes its daily life: stable and portico, kitchen, rooms, a staircase described as «di vivo» and a well of living water.
The land remained with the Ospedale; the building entered the holdings of the estate. This is how the place gains substance in the records: first through water and meadows, then through its walls, courtyards and the lives of those who worked it.
From separate lands to an estate
In the second half of the nineteenth century, maps and plans show channels, drains, the railway and waterworks. A plate from 1880 identifies the «Prato dell’Ospedale di Novara detto alla Breja» and reveals the precision with which water was guided through a landscape devoted to cultivation.
In 1881, the wording «tenimento detto dei Prati Breia» appears: Podere Prati Breja emerges as a unified whole of fields, buildings and water managed together.
On 17 July 1913, an auction notice refers to a «podere denominato Prati Breia». In 1923, a large plan depicts part of it with fields, channels, roads and buildings: the long mosaic of land and water rights has by then acquired the recognisable character of Podere Prati Breja.
«Podere denominato
Prati Breia.»
When the wider course of history passed through these lands
Podere Prati Breja has never been isolated. Lordships, armies and travellers moved around its waters, lending depth to the Novara landscape—a place sustained by work and repeatedly touched by wider events.
Ludovico il Moro and Beatrice d’Este
In Franco Boieri’s account, Ludovico il Moro looks towards the woodlands and meadows of the Riotta, while some land in the area passes to Beatrice d’Este. It is the echo of a territory so fertile and desirable that it entered the imagination of the great lordships.
The battle outside Novara
In the countryside around Novara, Swiss forces supporting the Sforza defeated the French army of Louis XII. Local tradition preserves the episode as the «battaglia della Riotta»: an event that gives these fields a wider memory, for European history passed beside the land we now call Podere Prati Breja.
History did not remain on the horizon.
Twice in almost sixty years, Strada Moneta—the road beside the water and fields of Podere Prati Breja—lay on the route of two figures in European history. Napoleon Bonaparte in 1800 and Napoleon III in 1859 both passed through these lands on their way to Marengo and Magenta. These were not inherited legends, but two real passages linking this quiet landscape to events that changed the course of Europe.
Napoleon Bonaparte
In 1800, before the Battle of Marengo, Napoleon Bonaparte crossed Novara and passed through this stretch of countryside along Strada Moneta. For a moment, the ancient road beside the fields now united within Podere Prati Breja became part of a journey destined for history.
Napoleon III
In 1859, on his way to Magenta, Napoleon III followed the same passage. Almost sixty years later, the wider course of history crossed these lands again: the road, bridge and water remained while armies and empires moved on.
Municipal sources confirm both figures’ presence in Novara; their passage along Strada Moneta, by Podere Prati Breja, is also preserved in the estate’s historical memory. Read the Novara reference.
Rovatella. The water that gives the landscape its voice.
Rolta, Rotella, Roatella, Rovatella: the spellings change over the centuries, yet preserve the same story of water. The name accompanies meadows, historic irrigation features and channels, until it becomes a living part of the identity of Podere Prati Breja.
Originally spring-fed, Fontana Rovatella collected—and still collects—the area’s surface water and is known as the deepest of Sant’Agabio’s historic irrigation watercourses. Here, water is more than a resource: it is the quiet presence that shaped the fields and continues to accompany their life.
G. Portigliotti’s drawing of 1733 makes this proximity visible: «Prati dell’Ospitale» and «Rovatella» appear on the same plate. It is the memory of one fertile landscape, where water made possible the meadows, the work and the future of Podere Prati Breja.
The estate takes shape on paper
The plan dated S. Martino 1923 depicts part of Podere Prati Breja: plots, irrigation channels, the provincial road, railway, Terdoppio stream and cluster of buildings. It is the estate seen from above, within an ordered pattern of water, fields and work.
Water becomes a written rule
The terms of the 1953–1962 tenancy record the timing and destination of the water with precision: the «Casone e Roatella» meadows were assigned thirty-five hours of irrigation each week with water from «Roatella», divided into two turns. The remaining hours in the rotation were allocated to other meadows, all now part of Podere Prati Breja.
1937. The beginning of our continuity.
On 4 December 1999, the Novara Chamber of Commerce presented Roberto Aina with a diploma and medal for the «ininterrotta attività iniziatasi nell’anno 1937 nel settore dell’agricoltura»—“uninterrupted activity begun in 1937 in the agricultural sector”. For us, 1937 is the recognised beginning of our family’s agricultural enterprise: a continuity of work that still guides every choice.
In 1953, the records open a new chapter. Angelo Aina took on the tenancy of the Podere Prati Breja complex, comprising the Cascinino by the Terdoppio stream and the Casone and Roatella meadows: approximately 38.7 hectares of fields, buildings and water.
1937 and 1953 tell two complementary moments: the beginning of our agricultural continuity and Angelo Aina’s arrival as tenant of Podere Prati Breja. From then on, the estate became a lasting part of our story.
The contracts mention first-cut hay, milk, wheat and unmilled rice; in 1967, a letter from the Ospedale thanked Angelo Aina for hay supplied for the guinea pigs of the Clinical Research Laboratory. Even an everyday delivery reveals a practical relationship built on trust and responsibility.
In 1977, Angelo proposed converting the eastern farm structures into grain storage while retaining the existing pillars and roof. Podere Prati Breja continued to evolve without erasing what it had inherited.
Land entrusted to care.
Before becoming part of our family’s story, the lands of Podere Prati Breja belonged for centuries to the Ospedale Maggiore della Carità di Novara, the city’s historic charitable hospital institution.
The institution’s roots probably reach back to the first half of the eleventh century, when the Casa di San Michele della Carità received the poor, elderly invalids and pilgrims. In 1482, after it was united with the city’s seven other hospitals, it took the name Ospedale Maggiore della Carità. Its stature lay also in its capacity to turn assets and income into assistance.
Over the centuries, donations, inheritances and bequests built a patrimony of houses, estates and income dedicated to the institution’s mission. Alongside the Ospedale, the Ospizio degli esposti—the foundling home—received and educated abandoned children. Land was therefore more than property: it became a resource capable of sustaining a wider culture of care.
For our family, this bond has an intimate meaning. First as tenants and today as owners, we feel we have inherited a responsibility, not simply land. We are grateful for all that Podere Prati Breja has entrusted to us, and proud to have honoured its ancient vocation of care through work and stewardship.
First as tenants, today as owners: we care with gratitude for land that carries a legacy of care.
Institutional sources: Ospedale Maggiore della Carità di Novara · Archivio di Stato di Novara, Ospizio degli esposti (foundling home)
From tenancy to ownership
Bringing Podere Prati Breja into the family’s ownership was our grandfather Angelo Aina’s greatest ambition. He wanted more than to purchase the land he worked: he imagined a future in which that bond could be cared for, improved and entrusted to those who came after him.
We did everything we could to carry that project forward. On 19 May 2015, following the public auction and under Resolution no. 334 (Delibera n. 334), Podere Prati Breja was awarded to Società Agricola Aina Roberto e Federico.
For us, that act transformed a long tenancy into an even greater responsibility: to care for Podere Prati Breja, respect its history and make it more alive with each passing day.
Ownership arrived in 2015. Our sense of belonging to Podere Prati Breja had begun much earlier.
Eight centuries in seventeen dates
- SubtemonetaThe name surfaces in records of the Pernate territory, along the route that would become Via Moneta.
- Land by the Terdoppio streamA register records the purchase of three moggia in the fertile lands of Podere Prati Breja.
- Beyond the RoltaThe Codice Vetus records a meadow, an irrigation channel and the right to conduct water beyond the Rolta.
- Guglielmo ReotiHis name appears between Sant’Agabio and the Terdoppio stream, in records of Novara’s agricultural landscape.
- Managing waterRotella and Rolta appear alongside channels, mills, sluices, gates and irrigation turns.
- Sluices and gatesThe records describe the management of the waters of the old and new Rotelle, within the historical continuity of the Rovatella system.
- The name BrejaAn irrigated parcel is described «al Terdoppio, o sia alla Breja»: the name of Podere Prati Breja enters the administrative record.
- Bonaparte towards MarengoBefore Marengo, Napoleon Bonaparte crosses Novara and travels along Strada Moneta, beside the lands now united within Podere Prati Breja.
- The farmsteadAn appraisal describes the stable at Cascinale Prati Breja.
- The Monti buildingThe Ospedale purchases from Lorenzo Monti the building he erected on its land, not the land itself.
- Napoleon III towards MagentaOn his way to Magenta, Napoleon III passes through the same landscape almost sixty years later.
- A unified holdingThe complex is called «tenimento detto dei Prati Breia».
- A single estateThe auction notice uses the wording «podere denominato Prati Breia».
- Agricultural continuityIn the diploma awarded in 1999, the Novara Chamber of Commerce recognises uninterrupted agricultural activity begun in 1937.
- Podere Prati BrejaThe Ospedale records formalise Angelo Aina’s tenancy of the Podere Prati Breja complex, comprising the Cascinino by the Terdoppio stream and the Casone and Roatella meadows.
- Changing without erasingFrom the documented hay supply in 1967 to the grain store, the farmstead continues to adapt.
- The project becomes ownershipWith Resolution no. 334 (Delibera n. 334), Angelo Aina’s family project is fulfilled: Podere Prati Breja is awarded to Società Agricola Aina Roberto e Federico.
The records of the estate
The records of Podere Prati Breja are more than documents: they preserve the rhythm of the land, the work of those who tended it, and the names and gestures that time entrusted to these fields. To leaf through them is to draw closer to the living substance of our story.
Seven records from the archive
The records preserve what the landscape remembers
Before Podere Prati Breja became part of our family story, this land already had a name, boundaries and regulated water. The manuscript pages bring together words, marks and annotations layered over time: the quiet voice of a landscape that has always asked for care.
Sources, permission and editorial criteria
Our reconstruction is based on photographs of original documents, registers, maps and files of the Ospedale Maggiore della Carità di Novara consulted at the Archivio di Stato di Novara; the Codice Vetus of the Ospedale della Carità di Novara, edited by Maria Franca Baroni; G. Portigliotti’s plate Disegno rappresentante i comuni di Trecate, Pernate e cascine circostanti (1733), reproduced with the designation ASATI; the “Zona Est” page by Franco Boieri, p. 90; the diploma for long service awarded by the Novara Chamber of Commerce to Roberto Aina on 4 December 1999; family documentation relating to Podere Prati Breja; our research at the Archivio Est Sesia; and administrative records concerning the 1953 tenancy and the 2015 award of ownership.
The images were treated conservatively: cropping, straightening and moderate adjustments to light and contrast, without reconstructing or altering original texts, numbers or stamps. The sole exception is the removal of the handwritten signature from the 1977 document; the typed name «AINA ANGELO» has been retained.
Editorial credit: Documents photographed by us from the originals and volumes consulted at the Archivio di Stato di Novara. Historical reconstruction based on records of the Ospedale Maggiore della Carità di Novara, the Codice Vetus, Portigliotti’s 1733 plate, Franco Boieri’s local reconstruction and research at the Archivio Est Sesia.
We obtained permission for reproduction. The images are published in accordance with any credit wording, archival reference or restriction specified in the relevant authorisation document.