Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
10km north of Pavia, in 1396 as a private chapel and mausoleum for the Visconti family.
Originally intended as an architectural companion piece to Milan's Duomo, the same ar-
chitects worked on its design although the final result, completed over a century later, was
a unique hybrid between late-Gothic and new Renaissance styles.
While the airy interior is indeed predominantly Gothic, the exterior is almost entirely a
creature of the Renaissance. The church is fronted by a spacious courtyard and flanked by
a small cloister, which itself leads onto a much grander, second cloister, under whose
arches are 24 cells, each a self-contained living area for one monk. Several cells are open
to the public, but you need to join one of the guided tours (Italian only) to access these. In
the former sacristy is a giant sculpture, dating from 1409 and made from hippopotamus
teeth, including 66 small bas-reliefs and 94 statuettes. In the chapels you'll find frescoes
by, among others, Bernardino Luini and the Umbrian master, Il Perugino.
Sila bus 175 (Pavia-Binasco-Milano) links Pavia bus station and Certosa di Pavia (15
minutes, at least seven daily).
Castello Visconteo
(Viale XI Febbraio 35)
Looming over the old town is the red-brick Castello Visconteo,
built in 1360 for Galeazzo II Visconti. Inside the forbidding ramparts is an enormous
walled garden, where art exhibits and wine tastings are held in spring and summer. The
castle is also home to
Musei Civici
( 0382 30 48 16;
www.museicivici.pavia.it
;
Viale XI Febbraio 35; adult/
reduced €6/free; 9am-1.30pm Tue-Sun Jul-Aug & Dec-Feb, 10am-6pm Tue-Sun Mar-Jun & Sep-Nov)
, which
houses interesting, if poorly curated, archaeological, ethnographic and art collections.
CASTLE
BASILICA
Basilica di San Michele
(Piazzetta Azzani 1; 7.30am-noon & 3-7pm)
Pavia's most important church isn't the
Duomo, but the beautiful Romanesque San Michele, where medieval Lombard kings
came to receive their iron crown and where Barbarossa was crowned Holy Roman Emper-
or in 1155.
Duomo
(Piazza del Duomo; 7am-noon & 3-7pm)
Dominating the town centre is the immense
dome of Pavia's red-brick Duomo, which is Italy's third-largest cathedral. Leonardo da
Vinci and Donato Bramante contributed to the design, which was begun in 1488 but was
not completed until the 19th century. In 1989, its bell tower collapsed, killing four people.
CATHEDRAL
