Pavia

Pavia(UK:/ˈpɑːviə/PAH-vee-ə,US:/pəˈviːə/pə-VEE-ə;Italian:[paˈviːa];Lombard:[paˈʋiːa];Latin:Ticinum;Medieval Latin:Papia) is a town andcomuneof south-westernLombardy, inNorthern Italy, 35 kilometres (22 miles) south ofMilanon the lowerTicinonear its confluence with thePo. It has a population of c. 73,086.
The city was a major political centre in the medieval period, being the capital of theOstrogothic Kingdomfrom 540 to 553, of theKingdom of the Lombardsfrom 572 to 774, of theKingdom of Italyfrom 774 to 1024 and seat of theVisconticourt from 1365 to 1413.
Pavia is the capital of the fertileprovince of Pavia, which is known for a variety of agricultural products, includingwine,rice, cereals, anddairyproducts. Although there are a number of industries located in the suburbs, these tend not to disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the town. It is home to the ancientUniversity of Pavia(founded in 1361 and recognized in 2022 by theTimes Higher Educationamong the top 10 in Italy and among the 300 best in the world), which together with theIUSS(Institute for Advanced Studies of Pavia),Ghislieri College,Borromeo College, Nuovo College, Santa Caterina College, and theIstituto per il Diritto allo Studio(EDiSU), belongs to the Pavia Study System. The 15th-centuryPoliclinico San Matteois one of the most important hospitals in Italy. Pavia is theepiscopal seatof theRoman CatholicBishop of Pavia. The city possesses many artistic and cultural treasures, including several importantchurchesandmuseums, such as the well knownCertosa di Pavia. The municipality of Pavia is part of theParco naturale lombardo della Valle del Ticino(aNature reserveincluded byUNESCOin theWorld Network of Biosphere Reserves) and preserves two forests (Strict nature reserve Bosco Siro NegriandBosco Grande nature reserve) that they show us the original state of the nature of thePo valleybefore the arrival of the Romans, before human settlement.
In Roman times, Pavia was calledTicinum. It began to be calledPapia, whencePavia, only since Lombard times, one of the very few Romanmunicipiain Italy that changed their names during theearly Middle Ages. The origin of the modern name is still uncertain today.
Dating back to pre-Roman times, the town of Pavia was said byPliny the Elderto have been founded by theLaeviandMarici, twoLigurian, or Celto-Ligurian, tribes, whilePtolemyattributes it to theInsubres, aCelticpopulation. The Roman city, known asTicinum, was a municipality and an important military site (acastrum) under theRoman Empire. It most likely began as a small military camp built by theconsulPublius Cornelius Scipioin 218 BCE to guard a wooden bridge he had built over the river Ticinum, on his way to search forHannibal, who was rumoured to have managed to lead an army over theAlpsand into Italy. The forces of Rome andCarthageran into each other soon thereafter, and the Romans suffered the first of many crushing defeats at the hands of Hannibal, with the consul himself almost losing his life. The bridge was destroyed, but the fortified camp, which at the time was the most forward Roman military outpost in thePo Valley, somehow survived the longSecond Punic War, and gradually evolved into a garrison town.
Its importance grew with the extension of theVia AemiliafromAriminum(Rimini) to the riverPo(187 BCE), which it crossed at Placentia (Piacenza) and there forked, one branch going toMediolanum(Milan) and the other to Ticinum, and thence toLaumellumwhere it divided once more, one branch going toVercellae– and thence toEporediaandAugusta Praetoria– and the other to Valentia – and thence toAugusta Taurinorum(Turin).
The town was built on flatted ground with square blocks. The "cardo Maximus" road corresponded to the current Strada Nuova up to the Roman bridge while the "decumanus" road corresponded to corso Cavour-corso Mazzini. Under most of the streets of the historic center there are still the brick ducts of the Roman sewer system which continued to function throughout the Middle Ages and the modern age without interruption, until about 1970.
Pavia was important as a Military site (near the city, in 271, the emperorAureliandefeated theJuthungi) because of the easy access to water communications (through the riversTicinoandPo) up to theAdriatic Seaand because of its defence structures.
In 325Martin of Tourscame to Pavia as a child following his father, a Roman officer.Pavia was the seat of an important Roman mint between 273 and 326.The reign ofRomulus Augustulus(r. 475–476), the last emperor of theWestern Roman Empireended at Pavia in 476 CE, and Roman rule thereby ceased in Italy.Romulus Augustulus, while considered the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was actually a usurper of the imperialthrone; his fatherFlavius Orestesdethroned the previous emperor,Julius Nepos, and raised the young Romulus Augustulus to the imperial throne atRavennain 475.Though being the emperor, Romulus Augustulus was simply the mouthpiece for his father Orestes, who was the person who actually exercised power and governed Italy during Romulus Augustulus' short reign.Ten months after Romulus Augustulus's reign began, Orestes's soldiers under the command of one of his officers namedOdoacer, rebelled and killed Orestes in the city of Pavia in 476.The rioting that took place as part of Odoacer's uprising against Orestes sparked fires that burnt much of Pavia to the point that Odoacer, as the new king of Italy, had to suspend thetaxesfor the city for five years so that it could finance its recovery.Without his father, Romulus Augustulus was powerless. Instead of killing Romulus Augustulus, Odoacer pensioned him off at 6,000 solidi a year before declaring the end of the Western Roman Empire and himself king of the new Kingdom of Italy.
Odoacer's reign as king of Italy did not last long, because in 488 theOstrogothicpeoples led by theirkingTheodericinvaded Italy and waged war against Odoacer.After fighting for 5 years, Theoderic defeated Odoacer and on March 15, 493, assassinated Odoacer at a banquet meant to negotiate a peace between the two rulers.With the establishment of the Ostrogoth kingdom based in northern Italy, Theoderic began his vast program of public building. Pavia was among several cities that Theodoric chose to restore and expand.He began the construction of the vast palace complex that would eventually become the residence of Lombard monarchs several decades later.Theoderic also commissioned the building of the Roman-styledamphitheatreand bath complex in Pavia;in the seventh century these would be among the few still functioning bath complexes in Europe outside of theEastern Roman Empire.Near the end of Theoderic's reign the ChristianphilosopherBoethiuswas imprisoned in one of Pavia's churches from 522 to 525 before his execution for treason.It was during Boethius's captivity in Pavia that he wrote his seminal work theConsolation of Philosophy.
Pavia played an important role in the war between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Ostrogoths that began in 535.After the Eastern Roman generalBelisarius's victory over the Ostrogothic leaderWittigisin 540 and the loss of most of the Ostrogoth lands in Italy, Pavia was among the last centres of Ostrogothic resistance that continued the war and opposed Eastern Roman rule.After the capitulation of the Ostrogothic leadership in 540 more than a thousand men remained garrisoned in Pavia andVeronadedicated to opposing Eastern Roman rule.Since 540 Pavia became the permanent capital of theOstrogothic Kingdom, stable site of the court and the royal treasury.The resilience of Ostrogoth strongholds like Pavia against invading forces allowed pockets of Ostrogothic rule to limp along until finally being defeated in 561.
Pavia and the peninsula of Italy did not remain long under the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire, for in 568 CE a new people invaded Italy: theLombards(otherwise called the Longobards).In their invasion of Italy in 568, the Lombards were led by their kingAlboin(r. 560–572), who would become the first Lombard king of Italy.Alboin captured much of northern Italy in 568 but his progress was halted in 569 by the fortified city of Pavia.Paul the Deacon's History of the Lombards written more than a hundred years after the Siege of Ticinum provides one of the few records of this period: "The city of Ticinum (Pavia) at this time held out bravely, withstanding a siege more than three years, while the army of the Langobards remained close at hand on the western side. Meanwhile, Alboin, after driving out the soldiers, took possession of everything as far as Tuscany except Rome andRavennaand some other fortified places which were situated on the shore of the sea."The Siege of Ticinum finally ended with the Lombards capturing the city of Pavia in 572.Pavia's strategic location and the Ostrogoth palaces located within it would make Pavia by the 620s the main capital of the Lombards' Kingdom of Paviaand the main residence for the Lombard rulers.
Under Lombard rule many monasteries, nunneries, and churches were built at Pavia by the devout Christian Lombard monarchs. Even though the first Lombard kings wereArianChristians, sources from the period such asPaul the Deaconhave recorded that the Arian Lombards were very tolerant of their Catholic subjects' faith and that up to the 690s Arian and Catholic cathedrals coexisted in Pavia.Lombard kings, queens, and nobles would engage in building churches, monasteries, and nunneries as a method to demonstrate their piety and their wealth by extravagantly decorating these structures which in many cases would become the site of that person's tomb, as in the case ofGrimoald(r. 662–671) who built San Ambrogio in Pavia and buried there after his death in 671.Aripert I
had thebasilica of Santissimo Salvatorebuilt in 657, which became themausoleumof the kings of theBavarian dynasty.Perctarit(r. 661–662, 672–688) and his sonCunicpert(r.679–700) built a nunnery and a church at Pavia during their reigns.Lombard churches were sometimes named after those who commissioned their construction, such as San Maria Theodota in Pavia.The monastery of San Michele alla Pusterla located at Pavia was the royal monastery of the Lombard kings.
One of the most famous churches built by a Lombard king in Pavia is thechurch San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro. This famous church was commissioned by kingLiutprand(r. 712–744)and it would become the site of his tomb as well as two other famous Christian figures.In building San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro the unit of measurement used by the builders was the length of Liutprand's royal foot.The first important Christian figure interred at San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro was the previously mentioned philosopher Boethius, author ofThe Consolation of Philosophy, who is located in the cathedral's crypt.The third and largest tomb of the three located in San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro contains the remains ofSt. Augustine of Hippo.St. Augustine is the early fifth-century Christian writer from Roman North Africa whose works such asOn Christian Doctrinerevolutionized the way in which the Christian scripture is interpreted and understood.On October 1, 1695, artisans working in San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro rediscovered St. Augustine's remains after lifting up some of the paving stones that compose the cathedral's floor.Liutprand was a very devout Christian and like many of the Lombard kings was zealous about collecting relics of saints.Liutprand paid a great deal to have the relics removed fromCagliariand brought to Pavia so that they would be out of the reach and safe from the Saracens onSardiniawhere St. Augustine's remains had been resting.Very little of Liutprand's original church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro consecrated by Pope Zacharias in 743 remains today.Originally the roof of its apse was decorated with mosaics, making San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro the first instance of mosaics being used to decorate a Lombard church.It is now a modern church with the only significant link to its antiquity being its round apse.The Lombards built their churches in a very Romanesque style, with the best example of Lombard churches from the period of Lombardic rule being theBasilica of San Michelestill intact at Pavia.
As the kingdom's capital, Pavia in the late seventh century also became one of the central locations of the Lombards' efforts to mint their own coinage.The bust of the Lombard king would have been etched on the coins as a symbolic gesture so that those who used the coins, mostly Lombard nobles, would understand that king had the ultimate power and control of wealth in the Kingdom of Pavia.The role of the capital implies the residence of the royal court, the presence of the central administrative structure of the kingdom, and the city's pre-eminence over the other urban centres in the military organization of the seasonal wars.The city of Pavia played a key role in the war between the Lombard Kingdom of Pavia and the Franks led by Charlemagne. In 773, Charlemagne king of the Franks declared war and invaded across the Alps into northern Italy defeating the Lombard army commanded by kingDesiderius(r. 757–774).Between the autumn of 773 and June of 774Charlemagne laidsiege to Paviafirst and then Verona, capturing the seat of Lombard power and quickly crushing any resistance from the northern Lombard fortified cities.Pavia had been the official capital of the Lombards since the 620s,but it was also the place upon where the Lombard Kingdom in Italy ended. Upon entering Pavia in triumph, Charlemagne crowned himself king of the lands of the former Kingdom of Pavia.The Lombard kingdom and its northern territories from then onwards were a sub-kingdom of the Frankish Empire, while the Lombard southernduchy of Beneventopersisted for several centuries longer with relative independence and autonomy.
There is little information, but, again in the eighth century, a Jewish community was also present in Pavia:Alcuin of Yorkrecalls a religious disputation that took place in the city between 750 and 766 between the Jew Julius of Pavia and the Christian Peter of Pisa.
EmperorLothair I, king of Italy from 822 to 850, paid attention to schools when in 825 he issued hiscapitularyby means of which he prescribed that students from many towns of north Italy had to attend the lectures in the school of Pavia.
In 924, the Hungarians, led by the deposed Lombard king,Berengar I, besieged but did not conquer the city.WithOtto IIPavia become the stable site of the court, first with queenAdelaide of Italyand then with the wife of Otto IITheophanum.During the Ottonian period Pavia enjoyed a period of well-being and development. The ancient Lombard capital distinguished itself from the other cities of the Po Valley for its fundamental function as a crossroads of important trade, both in foodstuffs and in luxury items. Commercial traffic was favored above all by the waterways used by the emperor for his travels: from Ticino the Po was easily reached, a direct axis with the Adriatic Sea and maritime traffic. Furthermore, with the advent of the Ottoni, Milan again lost importance in favor of Pavia, whose pre-eminence was sanctioned, among other things, by the minting of the Pavia mint.The importance of the city in those centuries is also highlighted by the account of the Arab geographer Ibrāhīm al-Turtuši, who traveled to central-western Europe between 960 and 965 and visited Verona, Rocca di Garda and Pavia, which he defined the main city of Longobardia, very populous, rich in merchants and entirely built, unlike other centers in the region, in stone, brick and lime. In Pavia, Ibrāhīm al-Turtuši, was very impressed by the equestrian statue ofRegisole, which he places near one of the doors of the Royal palace and by the 300 jurists working inside the palace.Also at the turn of the tenth and eleventh centuries, the city was the birthplace ofLiutprand of Cremona, bishop, chronicler and diplomat in the service ofBerengar IIfirst and then ofOtto IandOtto IIand ofLanfranc, a close collaborator ofWilliam the Conquerorand, after theNorman conquestof the Anglo-Saxon kingdom, reorganizer of the English church. Pavia remained the capital of theItalian Kingdomand the centre of royal coronations until the diminution of imperial authority there in the 12th century. In 1004,Holy Roman Emperor Henry IIbloodily suppressed a revolt of the citizens of Pavia, who disputed his recent coronation asKing of Italy.
In the 12th century, Pavia acquired the status of a self-governingcommune. In the political division betweenGuelphs and Ghibellinesthat characterized the Italian Middle Ages, Pavia was traditionally Ghibelline, a position that was as much supported by the rivalry withMilanas it was a mark of the defiance of the Emperor that led theLombard Leagueagainst the emperorFrederick Barbarossa, who was attempting to reassert long-dormant Imperial influence over Italy. Frederick I celebrated two coronations in Pavia (1155 and 1162) in the basilica ofSan Michele Maggioreand resieded in a new imperial palace near the royalmonastery of St. Salvatore.Several times the Pavia army fought with the emperor against the forces of theLombard League, participating in thesieges of Tortona,Cremaand Milan and in other military operations. The city also had a reputation as a place to have a "good time," as witness theArchpoet's famous comments of 1163.
In the following centuries Pavia was an important and active town. Pavia supported the emperorFrederick IIagainst theLombard Leagueand the Pavese army took part in numerous operations in the service of the emperor and participated in thebattle of Cortenuovain 1237.
Under theTreaty of Pavia, EmperorLouis IVgranted during his stay in Italy theElectorate of the Palatinateto his brother DukeRudolph'sdescendants. Pavia held out against the domination ofMilan, finally yielding to theViscontifamily, rulers of that city in 1359 after a difficult siege;under the Visconti Pavia became an intellectual and artistic centre, being the seat from 1361 of theUniversity of Paviafounded around the nucleus of the old school of law, which attracted students from many countries. During the regency ofGaleazzo IIandGian Galeazzothe memory of the capital's role and the Lombard traditions of Pavia jointly entered the "propaganda" of the new masters of Pavia: Galeazzo II moved his court from Milan to Pavia and between 1361 and 1365 Galeazzo II built a large palace (Visconti castle) with a major Park (Visconti Park), which became the official residence of the dynasty.In 1396 Gian Galeazzo commissioned the building of theCertosa, built at the end of the Visconti Park, which connected the Certosa to the castle of Pavia. The church, the last edifice of the complex to be built, was to be the familymausoleumof the Visconti.In 1389, by the will of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, some families of German Jews settled in Pavia, mainly active in financial activities.The Jewish community of Pavia grew in the 15th century, when Elijah ben Shabbetai, personal doctor of Filippo Maria Visconti and professor at the University of Pavia and, above all,Joseph Colon Trabotto, who was a 15th-century rabbi who is considered Italy's foremostJudaicscholar andTalmudistof his era, and in the same university a Hebrew course was activated in 1490.Also in the fifteenth century, by the will of the Dukes of Milan, the University of Pavia experienced a phase of great development: it began to attract students from both Italy and other European countries and taught teachers of great fame, such asBaldo degli Ubaldi,Lorenzo VallaorGiasone del Maino.
TheBattle of Pavia(1525) marked a watershed in the city's fortunes, since by that time, the former schism between the supporters of the Pope and those of the Holy Roman Emperor had shifted to one between a French party (allied with the Pope) and a party supporting the Emperor and King of SpainCharles V. Thus, during theValois-HabsburgItalian Wars, Pavia was naturally on the Imperial (and Spanish) side. The defeat and capture of KingFrancis IofFranceduring the battle ushered in a period ofSpanishoccupation. In the same years, he studied at theGirolamo CardanoUniversity of Pavia, while, probably in 1511,Leonardo da Vincistudied anatomy together withMarcantonio della Torre, professor of anatomy at the university.In 1597, by the will ofPhilip IIof Spain, the Jewish community of Pavia had to abandon the city.
During theFranco-Spanish war, Pavia was besieged from 24 July to 14 September 1655 by a large French, Savoyard andEstensearmy commanded byThomas Francis, prince of Carignano, but the besiegers were unable to conquer the city.The Spanish period ended in 1706, when Pavia was occupied, after a short siege, by theAustriansled byWirich Philipp von Daunduring theWar of the Spanish Successionand the city remained Austrian until 1796, when it was occupied by the French army underNapoleon. During this Austrian period the university was greatly supported byMaria Theresaof Austria and oversaw a culturally rich period due to the presence of leading scientists and humanists likeUgo Foscolo,Alessandro Volta,Lazzaro Spallanzani, andCamillo Golgi, among others. In 1796, after theJacobinsdemolishedRegisole(a bronze classical equestrian monument), the inhabitants of Pavia revolted against the French and the revolt was quelled byNapoleonafter a furious urban fight.
In 1814, it again came under Austrian administration. In 1818 the works on theNaviglio Pavesewere completed: the canal, conceived as a waterway between Milan, Pavia and Ticino and as an irrigation canal, contributed to the development of the city, so much so that a few years after its construction, in 1821, Borgo Calvenzano was built behind theVisconti Castle, a long series of arcaded buildings where there were warehouses, taverns, shipping and customs offices, hotels, stables, all in support of inland navigation. In 1820 the first steamships began to operate in the Pavia dock and, between 1854 and 1859, theÖsterreichischer Lloydorganized a regular navigation line, again using steamships, between Pavia,VeniceandTrieste.With theSecond War of Italian Independence(1859) and theunification of Italyone year later, Pavia passed, together with the rest of Lombardy, to theKingdom of Italy. In 1894Albert Einstein's father moved to Pavia to start a business supplying electrical materials, the Einstein. The Einsteins lived in the city in the same building (Palazzo Cornazzani) whereUgo FoscoloandAda Negrihad lived. The young Albert came to the family several times between 1895 and 1896. During his time in Italy he wrote a short essay with the title "On the Investigation of the State of the Ether in a Magnetic Field".
In 1943 Pavia was occupied by the German army. In September 1944, the US air forces carried out several bombings on the city with the aim of destroying the three bridges over the Ticino, strategic for supplying men. Weapons and provisions the German units engaged along theGothic line. These operations led to the destruction of thePonte Copertoand resulted in the deaths of 119 civilians.
Allied troops entered the city on April 30, 1945. At theinstitutional referendum of 2 June 1946Pavia assigned 67.1% of the votes to the Republic, while the monarchy obtained only 38.2%.
The symbols of Pavia are the coat of arms, the banner and the seal, as reported in the municipal statute. The banner used by the modern city of Pavia faithfully reproduces the one used by the municipality of Pavia at least since the 13th century: a red banner with a white cross. This symbol, probably derived from blutfahne, the original flag of the emperor of theHoly Roman Empire, had a clear political meaning: to underline Pavia's belonging to theGhibellinefaction. The coat of arms of the municipality also depicts the cross which, starting from the end of the 16th century, began to be represented in an oval shape and within a rich frame, on top of which there is a mask with a crown count and often flanked by two angels holding the shield and the letters CO-PP (Comunitas Papie).The seal of the municipality depicts theRegisole, an ancient late antique bronze equestrian statue originally placed inside the Royal Palace and, probably in the 11th century, placed in thecathedralsquare. The statue was pulled down by theJacobinsin 1796.
The Pavia municipality falls in the orographic system of thePo Valleyformed after the alluvial filling of the wide of the gulf occupied by theAdriatic Seabefore theQuaternary. A large part of the historic city center is located on the edge of the riverTicino.
The city occupies an area of 62.86 km(24.27 sq mi) west ofLombardy, located along the so-called "Karst spring's belt", where there is the meeting, in the subsoil, between geological layers with different permeability, an aspect that allows the deep waters to resurface on the surface.
Thefluvial terraceon which Pavia stands appears engraved by two deep furrows due to the erosive action of twopostglacialrivers, represented today by the Navigliaccio (originally occupied by the Calvenza) and by the Vernavola. The two valleys tend to converge just behind the area of the ancient city, so that primitive Pavia found itself on an almost isolated and difficult to reach trunk or stump of terrace, almost triangular in shape, which Ticino had to the south, the Calvenza and then the Navigliaccio to the north-west and the Vernavola to the north-east.
From an elevation point of view, the city has various heights. The highest point is located in the area of theVisconti Castle, about 80 m (260 ft) above sea level, and then slowly declines. From an altitude of 80 m (260 ft), you pass to 77 m (253 ft) in about 500 m (550 yd; 1,600 ft). Downstream from Piazza Vittoria, where thecardoanddecumanusof the Roman city crossed, the slope becomes more pronounced, up to just under 60 m (200 ft) above sea level near thePonte Coperto.
The humidity of the area is quite high (75–80% is the annual average), and this causes the typical fog, starting mainly during late autumn and winter.
Pavia's most famous landmark is theCertosa, orCarthusianmonastery, founded in 1396 and located eight kilometres (5.0 miles) north of the city.
Among other notable structures are:
Pavia possesses a remarkable artistic treasure, a legacy of the city's prestigious past, divided into several museums.
ThePavia Civic Museums(located, in theVisconti Castle) are divided into various sections: Archaeological, which preserves one of the richest collections of Roman glass in northern Italy and important artifacts and archeological finds ofLombardperiod, such as theplutei of Teodotaand the collection (the largest in Italy) of Lombard epigraphs, some of which belong to the tombs of kings or queens. Then there is theRomanesqueandRenaissancesection which exhibits sculptural, architectural and mosaic. The Romanesque collection is very rich, one of the largest in northern Italy, which also preserves important oriental architectural dishes from the Islamic and Byzantine East that adorned the facades of churches and buildings. Works byJacopino da Tradate,Giovanni Antonio Amadeo,Cristoforoand Antonio Mantegazza andAnnibale Fontanaare also exhibited. The Civic Museums also house the Risorgimento museum, dedicating particular space to the social, economic and cultural life of Pavia between the 18th and 19th centuries, the collection of African objects collected byLuigi Robecchi Bricchettiduring his explorations and the numismatic collection, which houses more than 50,000 coins, most of them belonging to Camillo Brambilla, which cover a chronological period between the classical Greek issues and the minting of the modern period.
The Pinacoteca Malaspina (which is part of the Pavia Civic Museums) established by the Marquis Luigi Malaspina di Sannazzaro (Pavia 1754– 1834), houses works by important artists of the Italian and international scene, from the 13th to the 20th century, such asGentile da Fabriano,Vincenzo Foppa,Giovanni Bellini,Antonello da Messina,Bernardino Luini,Correggio,Paolo Veronese,Guido Reni,Francesco Hayez,Giovanni SegantiniandRenato Gottuso. The monumental wooden model of thePavia cathedralfrom 1497 is also exhibited inside the picture gallery.
The university's museum network is very vast, consisting of theUniversity History Museumof the University of Pavia, divided between the Section of Medicine, where anatomical and pathological preparations, surgical instruments are also exhibited (the surgical paraphernalia ofGiovanni Alessandro Brambilla) and life-size anatomical waxes, made by the Florentine ceroplastClemente Susiniand the Physics Section which houses the physics cabinet ofAlessandro Volta(where hundreds of scientific instruments from the 18th and 19th centuries are exhibited, some belonging to Alessandro Volta).
The University'sMuseum of Archeologywas established by Pier Vittorio Aldini in 1819 and houses prehistoric, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan (including a collection of clay votive offerings donated by PopePius XI) and Roman (some fromPompeii).
TheNatural History Museumof the University (Kosmos), housed insidePalazzo Botta Adorno, is one of the oldest in Italy, it was in fact founded byLazzaro Spallanzaniin 1771 and which preserves a naturalistic heritage of high scientific and historical value, including nearly 400,000 finds divided between the collections of zoology, comparative anatomy and paleontology.Then there is the Golgi Museum, located in the same environments in which bothCamillo Golgiand his students worked, rooms and laboratories that preserve both the original furnishings and the scientific instruments of the time, in order to allow the visitor to enter inside a 19th-century research center;while the Museum of Electrical Technique, built in 2007, illustrates the history of electrical technology within five sections.
Then come the Museum of Chemistry, that of Physicsand the Museum of Mineralogy, founded by Lazzaro Spallanzani.
Next to theCathedral, inside the crypt of the ancient cathedral of Santa Maria del Popolo (11th century), is theDiocesan Museum of Pavia, inaugurated in 2023, which collects silverware and liturgical objects (among which a crosier in elephantine ivory carved, painted and gilded made by a Sicilian workshop by the hand of Arab craftsmen and dating back to the end of the 12th century), sculptures and paintings, such as the panel of theMadonna della MisericordiabyLorenzo Fasolo.
The history of the municipality of Pavia, from the tenth to the twentieth century, can be told through the amount of documentation collected within the Archivio Storico Civico (established in 1895), which also contains collections containing the archives of many aristocratic families from Pavia and of city personalities, such as Gaetano Sacchi,Benedetto CairoliandLuigi Robecchi Bricchetti.The Archivio di Stato (founded in 1959) also collect funds from noble archives (Beccaria, Bottigella, Belcredi,Malaspina) and more, such as the Mori collection, which collects the papers ofCesare Mori. Also preserved in the archive are the acts of the notaries of Pavia (1256–1907), the maps of the TeresianCadastreof the Pavia area (18th–19th centuries), and the archives of theuniversity(1341–1897), of the San Matteo Hospital (1063–1900), the Prefecture, the Police Headquarters and the Court.Equally important is the Archivio Storico Diocesano, which houses the documentation of thediocese of Paviasince the tenth century.
The Centro per gli studi sulla tradizione manoscritta di autori moderni e contemporanei (Formerly the "Research Center on the Manuscript Tradition of Modern and Contemporary Authors", also known as the "Manuscript Center"), founded byMaria Cortiin 1980, is responsible for the conservation and to the study of modern and contemporary archival and bibliographic heritage. The center, among the most important of its kind in Italy, preserves collections of documentary material (manuscripts, typescripts, letters, first editions, libraries, photographs, drawings, furnishings, paintings and other objects) relating to writers, intellectuals, publishers, artists and scientists of the past two centuries. Among the archival collections preserved we remember those ofAlberto Arbasino,Riccardo Bacchelli,Romano Bilenchi,Emilio De Marchi,Ennio Flaiano,Alfonso Gatto,Tonino Guerra,Claudio Magris,Luigi Meneghello,Eugenio Montale,Indro Montanelli,Salvatore Quasimodo,Mario Rigoni Stern,Amelia Rosselli,Umberto Sabaand Roberto Sanesi.
The library tradition of Pavia among its origins from the Visconteo Sforzesca Library, established in the second half of the fourteenth century byGian Galeazzo Viscontiin theVisconti Castle, where the precious illuminated manuscripts of the dukes of Milan were kept. In 1499, with the fall ofLudovico il Moro, the king of FranceLouis XIItook most of the manuscripts from the castle and they are now kept in theBibliothéque Nationale de FranceinParis. Of the nearly one thousand manuscripts that made up the library, only one codex remained in Pavia:I TrionfidiFrancesco Petrarcakept in the Biblioteca Universitaria.
In the second half of the 16th century, three historic libraries arose in the city: that of the Episcopal Seminaryand the libraries of theBorromeoandGhislieriColleges,founded respectively byCharles Borromeoand PopePius Vto allow access to theuniversity(then the only one of all theDuchy of Milan) to promising young people, but with scarce economic resources.
In 1754, by the will of EmpressMaria Theresa, the Biblioteca Universitaria was created, the most important in terms of book heritage in the city, which also preserves 1,404 manuscripts, 702incunabula, 1,153 parchments (from 1103 to 1787), the 3,592 old prints, and 1,287 old geographical maps.
In 1887 the Biblioteca Civica Carlo Bonetta was established, the main seat of the library system of the city which is divided into eight loan and reading points distributed evenly over the entire municipal area.Among the university libraries we should mention the Library of Humanistic Studies,born from the amalgamation of several libraries of the university's humanistic faculties, such as that of archeology (built in 1819), the Library of Science and Technology,where the library also merged of theBotanical Garden(established in 1773), the Law Library (1880),The Science Library,which also houses the volumes of the Medical and Surgical Society of Pavia (founded byCamillo Golgiin 1885), the Area Library Medica Adolfo Ferrata,the Political Science Library (built in 1925), the Economics Libraryand the Giasone del Maino College Library (born in 2000).
Capital of a province in the shape of abunch of grapes, as it was defined byGianni Brera, there are many fruits that this land offers and which are the origin of various local dishes. The wealth of springs and waterways have made Pavia, and its territory, one of the main Italian centers for the production of rice, it is therefore no coincidence that there are numerous recipes that allow you to discover the thousand faces of this cereal. such as the Carthusian risotto, according to the legend created by the monks of theCertosa, based oncrayfishes, carrots and onions, risotto with eye beans or the one with sausage andbonardaand risotto withcommon hops(ürtis in pavese dialect). Among the first courses, in addition to rice, thepavese soupalso stands out, created, according to tradition, by a peasant woman with the few ingredients at her disposal (broth, eggs and cheese) to feed the king of FranceFrancis Iafter thedisastrous defeatat the gates of the city.
Among the second courses we should mention the ragò alla pavese, a local variant of the more famouscassoeula, lighter because it is cooked only with pork ribs, the stew alla pavese, the büseca (veal tripe alla pavese), marrowbones with peas (os büš cum i erbion) and escaped birds (üslin scapà) veal slices filled with bacon and sage. According to local tradition, meat, especially if boiled, is served together with two types of sauces: the peverata (already mentioned byOpicinus de Canistrisin the fourteenth century) based on peppers, celery, anchovies and eggs, and the bagnet verd, prepared with parsley, anchovies, garlic and capers.Alongside meat dishes, Pavia cuisine is also characterized by numerous freshwater fish dishes, such as eel alla borghigiana (which takes its name from the ancient suburb of the city on the other side of Ticino, after thePonte Coperto), trout in white wine and omelette with bleak, without forgetting the frogs, inserted in risotto or served in stew, and snails, cooked with porcini mushrooms.
Among the desserts, in addition to the well-known cake of paradise, the pumpkin pie (turtâ d'sücâ), the San Sirini, small round cakes made of sponge cake, abundantly soaked in rum and covered with dark chocolate, produced in the weeks around 9 December, the day ofSaint Syrus, and sfâsö, typical pancakes cooked at carnival.
Clearly each course must be paired with wines from the nearbyOltrepò Pavese.Finally, despite being a typical Milanese dessert, the oldest and most certain attestation of thepanettoneis found in a register of expenses of theBorromeo collegeof Pavia in 1599: on 23 December of that year in the list of courses provided for lunch Christmas costs also appear for 5 pounds of butter, 2 of raisins and 3 ounces of spices given to the baker to make 13 "loaves" to be given to college students on Christmas Day.
Belonging to theprovince of Pavia, in particular toOltrepò PavesearePavese agnolotti, a type ofstuffed pasta. The filling of the Pavese agnolotti is based on Pavesestew.The recipe for this stuffed pasta is characterized by influences fromPiedmonteseandPiacentinocuisine, characteristics of areas that border the Oltrepò Pavese.The shape of the pasta was based on thePiedmontese agnolotti, and the filling of Pavese stew is based onstracotto alla piacentina, which is the filling for Piacentinoanolini[it].The Piedmontese agnolotti, in particular, differ from the Pavese agnolotti due to the filling, which is instead based on roast meat.Pavese agnolotti is a typical dish of theChristmastradition,and are consumed during celebrations and important occasions.
The municipality of Pavia is part of theParco naturale lombardo della Valle del Ticinoand preserves two forests (Strict nature reserve Bosco Siro NegriandBosco Grande nature reserve) that they show us the original state of the nature of thePo valleybefore the arrival of the Romans, before human settlement. To the north and east of the city, a small stream, originating from springs, the Vernavola, gives rise to a deep valley, escaped from urbanization, which is home to theVernavola Park, while to the west, the green ring around Pavia is closed by the Sora Park. 9% of the surface of the municipality of Pavia is occupied by natural areas, parks or gardens (about 594 hectares, 1,470 acres, of which 312 hectares, 770 acres are covered with broad-leaved woods).
In 2021 there were over 45 schools of all types and levels, including: over 26 schools between Kindergarten and Primary schools (including one bilingual: Italian-English), 8Lower secondary schoolsand 11upper secondary schools.Some of these boast centuries of history, such as the Ugo Foscoloclassical lyceum, originally started in 1557 near the convent ofSanta Maria di Canepanovaby theBarnabiteFathers or the Liceo Scientifico Torquato Taramelli (scientific lyceum), heir to the Normal Schools established in 1799.
Pavia is a major Italian college town, with several institutes, universities and academies, including the ancientUniversity of Pavia. Here is an incomplete list of the main institutions located in the city:
Although the ancient hospitals intended for the reception and treatment of the sick and travelers arose in the city at least from the 8th century, the first Pavia hospitals serving the entire city of which documented traces remain are the hospital ofSanta Maria in Betlem(attested from 1130) and that of San Lazzaro (1157), which were operational for centuries.After 1449,they ceded their primary role to the San Matteo Hospital which became one of the most important Pavia institutions. The ancient dedication to San Matteo is still carried by the San Matteo Polyclinic, whose full name is the Fondazione IRCCSPoliclinico San MatteoHospital.
In addition to Policlinico San Matteo Hospital, Pavia has five hospitals, including public and affiliated, specialist or general hospitals that cover the pathologies provided for by national protocols. Patients from other regions often resort to them. Among the hospitals, there are several that belong to the category of scientific hospitalization and treatment institutes, the so-called IRCCS. We recall, among the specialized ones, the Casimiro Mondino National Neurological Instituteand the Maugeri Scientific Clinical Institute,while among the general hospitals the most important are the Institute of Care of the City of Paviaand the Santa Margherita Institute of Rehabilitation and Care.
In addition, Pavia hosts the National Center for Androtherapy Oncology (CNAO Foundation), the first hospital and clinical andradiobiologicalresearch in the center in Italy (the fourth country in the world to set up one). It was set up in 2010 by the Ministry of Health and specializes in the treatment of radioresistant tumors through the use ofparticle therapy. The Center also carries out scientific research to identify effective tools in the fight against cancer.
The CNAO uses asynchrotronwhere particles are produced in two sources, these are pre-accelerated by a linear accelerator and sent to an injection line for transfer into the synchrotron ring, where they are further accelerated and extracted.
Starting from the 1980s Pavia has undergone a notable demographic involution due to the transfer of many families within the municipalities immediately bordering the capital. Within the urban agglomeration of the city of Pavia, according to calculations made by applying the international criterion of Functional Urban Areas, approximately 121,000 inhabitants would reside.
According to the latest statistics conducted byISTAT,approximately 14.54% of the population consists of non-Italians. About the 33% of the immigrant population consists of those of various other European origins (chiefly Romanian, Ukrainian, and Albanian), the remaining are those with non-European origins, chiefly Dominicans (5,99%), Egyptians (5,84%), Chinese (4,81%) and Cameroonian (4,03%).
The first religious confession in Pavia is theCatholicone, which, unlike other areas ofLombardy, is of theRoman rite, with the exclusion, within the city, of the church of San Giorgio in Montefalcone, entrusted to theUkrainiancommunity of theUkrainian Greek Catholic Church.The second religious community is theEastern Orthodox Churchone, like the Romanian one in via Repubblica and theGreek Orthodox churchof Sant'Ambrogio, in via Olevano.Then there is theMuslim, who finds herself in two Islamic cultural centers (via San Giovannino and Via Pollack), while for some time there have been places of worship forProtestantsin Pavia, such as theWaldensian Churchin via Alessandro Rolla,theEvangelicalChurch ofAssemblies of Godin via Angelo Ferrari,the Evangelical Church of Reconciliation in viale Cremona,theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintsin via Grevelloneand theKingdom HallofJehovah's Witnessesin via Langosco.
The 63.3% of the surface of the municipality of Pavia (about 4,000 hectares, 9,900 acres) is destined for agriculture and in particular for the cultivation ofrice(about 2,400 hectares, 5,900 acres), which spread, starting from the 14th century, mainly in marshy land until it became, especially from the 18th century, the main cultivation. The large quantities of water required for the rice has meant that over the centuries a very dense irrigation network has been designed and built which still today characterizes the landscape of the Pavia countryside. It should also be noted that the city is the capital of the Italian province with the largest rice production in the country: over 84,000 hectares, 210,000 acres of the provincial land are used for paddy fields. TheProvince of Paviaalone produces as much rice as the entirety of Spain.The other crops present within the municipal area are that of corn and wheat (1,376 hectares, 3,400 acres),poplargroves (636 hectares, 1,570 acres), while very limited areas are used for meadows (158 hectares, 390 acres), orchards and vegetable gardens (29 and 30 hectares, 72 and 74 acres). Still within the territory of the municipality of Pavia, there are still around fifty farms destined for agricultural activity,18 of which host cattle farms, where about 820 heads are raised.
The city experienced a strong development of industry starting from the 1880s, so much so that it also hosted establishments of national importance, such as Necchi or the first large Italian factory of artificial silk and synthetic fabrics, theSnia Viscosa, built in 1905. In 1951 almost 27% of Pavia's workforce was employed in the industrial sector.Starting from the 1970s, the city underwent a sudden deindustrialization which led to the closure of many companies, especially those in the chemical and mechanical sectors, while those related to the food sector, such as Riso Scotti, pharmaceutical companiesand related topackaging and labeling.
Pavia railway station, opened in 1862, forms part of theMilan–Genoa railway, and is also a terminus of four secondary railways, linking Pavia withAlessandria,Mantua,VercelliandStradella.
Pavia is also connected toMilanthrough the S13 line of theMilan suburban railway servicewith trains every 30 minutes.Pavia P. Garibaldiis a small railway station on thePavia–Mantua railway.
Pavia istwinnedwith:
People born in Pavia include:
People who have lived in Pavia include:
Among the illustrious scholars who studied or taught at the University of Pavia, the following are at least worth remembering: playwright and librettistCarlo Goldoni(1707–1793),Gerolamo Cardano, mathematicianGerolamo Saccheri(1667–1733),Ugo Foscolo,Alessandro Voltathe inventor of thebattery, biologist and physiologistLazzaro Spallanzani(1729–1799), anatomistAntonio Scarpa(1752–1832), physicianCarlo Forlanini(1847–1918), the Nobel laureate biologistCamillo Golgi, the Nobel laureate chemistGiulio Natta(1903–1979) andEmanuele Severino(1929–2020), one of the most important contemporary Italian philosophers.
Published in the 19th century
Published in the 20th century