Basilica di Sant'Andrea

Thanks to this financial support, the cardinal was able to call to Vercelli some Augustinian canons from Saint-Victor in Paris, giving them responsibility over the new abbey and the hospital to be built for the pilgrims who travelled the Via Francigena.

Although the architect is unknown, it is presumed that the Gothic lines of the new edifice were introduced by the French clerics, who included abbot Thomas Gallus, previously a professor in the University of Paris.

[1] The style of the Romanesque elements connects the building to the architectural traditions of northern Italy and suggest the hand of an Italian master in the design.

During restorations carried out in 1818–1840, the scrinium (travelling case) of Guala Bicchieri was found in the building; it is now in the Turin City Museum of Ancient Art.

The wide gable of the central section, the two blind arcades and the big rose window in the middle are all elements in the tradition of Lombard-Emilian Romanesque architecture.

[4] The interior of the basilica is fully Gothic in style, with ogival arcades supported by piers formed by a cylindrical element surrounded by eight small columns.