The name is documented for the first time in a text dating from the year 1000, precisely in a diploma of Emperor Arrigo I. The name probably derives from the fact that around the year 1000, the area was inhabited by large herds of horses, to which the town is still linked today (a horse, in fact, is represented in the town's coat of arms). A major center in the province of Novara in the hills that separate the valleys of the river Sesia and the river Agogna, Cavallirio was devoted predominantly to an agricultural vocation and is now famous for its DOC guaranteed wines.
It is famous because in 1524, during the battle of Romagnano Sesia, a neighboring fief, here died the commander of the French army in Italy, Pierre du Terrail, commonly known as the "Knight without fear or sin". The town belonged to the Counts of Vercelli, until a part of the territory was ceded to the Bishop of Novara, whilst another part went to the Lords of Robbio. Emperor Frederick in 1152 decreed that the fief belonged to the Lords of Castello and in the early XV century Gian Galeazzo Visconti entitled Francesco Barbavera to rule, but only a few years later, he was removed by Guarco Isnardo and later By the Count of Pollenzo. Sold to the Marquis of the Romagna, the Sforza proclaimed Cavallirio into a fief and the rule passed to Visconti Anchiese, until Charles V took over. Returning to the Marquis of the Romagna, it was sold to the Count of Viverone, then to the Savoy and finally to the Count of Arona. At the end of the XVI century the town was donated to Spain.
Not to miss:
- the Oratory of the Assumption, dating from the XVII century, it preserves inside an altarpiece of the second half of the XVII century and a marble altar of the second half of the XVIII century.
- the Parish Church of San Gaudenzio, patron of the town, built in the first half of the XVIII century, it features altars of later periods.
- the Oratory di San Germano of the Heath, situated in a remote area, features a one nave plan and of the original building of the XI century remains only part of the apse.
- La Torre. The remains of an ancient Lombard tower located in the higher part of the municipal area.