Among the whole range of historic towns on the Lombard Plain, west of Milan are Pavia and Vigevano. Despite, that they are close enough, that you can visit them on day trips from Milan, they retained their distinct character. While in Milan, you shouldn't give up especially Pavia, in which it is even advantageous to stop and commute to the capital of the region every day. Vigevano is a more provincial town and therefore it does not make sense to spend the night there, but it's worth going there from Pavia or Milan and spending half a day watching nice, a renaissance square and a rather dilapidated castle.
Pavia
In the Middle Ages, PAVIA was known as the city of a hundred towers. Despite, that only a few of them have survived (one of the most spectacular collapsed recently, killing four people), the medieval atmosphere still dominates the city, and the network of charming narrow streets and cobbled squares is dotted with numerous Romanesque and Gothic churches. The city, however, does not live only by the memory of the past, because the old university is still very active, what contributes m.in. for a significant revival of street life and nightlife.
Pavia was of greatest importance in the early Middle Ages, when it was the capital of the Lombard kingdom. After its fall, it remained an important political center for a long time., because successive emperors ruling northern Italy came to the city for coronation with a traditional Lombard crown of iron. It ended in the fourteenth century, when Pavia was taken over by the Visconti family and became one of the satellite cities of Milan. Viscontich Dynasty, and later the Sforza, however, she founded the university in Pavia and built the Certosa di Pavia abbey, which is today the main tourist attraction of the city.
Arrival and accommodation
There are regular trains between Milan and Pavia (driving time 30 Min.), but connections to other towns on the Lombard plain are rare, and commuting takes a long time. Public transport in Pavia is good though. Bus lines connect the train station with the main Corso # 3 and # 6, and the center itself can be easily reached on foot. The EPT office is located in Corso Garibaldi (VI-VIII pn.-pt. 8.30-13.30 and 15.00-18.00, Sb. 9.00-12.00; IX-V pn.-pt. 8.30-12.30 and 14.30-18.00, Sb. 9.00-12.00).
Hotels in Pavia are often occupied by Milan trade fair attendees and finding accommodation can be more difficult, than you thought. During breaks in studies at the university, it is possible to rent a room in a private home, but for a period of not less than a week (details in EPT). The most pleasant of the hotels is conveniently located (in front of the cathedral) Regisole Hotel, Piazza Duomo 2 (• 0382/24739). It's clean here, staff nice, and double rooms cost money 30 OOOL. Cheaper, but rather lame, are Splendid, Via XX Settembre 11 (*0382/24703), Roma, Via Roma 13 (*0382/29320) oraz Cannon d'Oro, Strada Nuova 7 (*0382/21093).
There are two in the city, open from May to September, camping. Do Ticino, Via Mascherpa 10 (*038220015; pool) a bus arrives #4 from the station, a do Lido (•0382/33269), na Via Varazza, on the other side of the Ticino River, you go by bus first # 3 or # 6 do Strada Nuova, then change to a bus going across the river # 1 or # 8, finally you go quite a long distance on foot.
City
In Pavia, the city as a whole is more impressive, than individual monuments and that is why wandering around the center is the most pleasant way to spend time here. Just enter one of the side streets and you will surely come across something interesting: high medieval tower, nice romanesque or gothic church, or silent, quiet little square. It is quite difficult to get lost, if you remember about it, that the city is divided by two main streets into four parts.
The place, where it is neither quiet, nor calmly, is the central Piazza della Vittoria. It is rectangular, paved square, which is surrounded by rather inferior beauty buildings with bars, restaurants and ice cream parlors. Stairs down lead to a rather poor underground market (8.30-12.30 and 15.30-19.30), which is worth visiting only then, when you don't have the money to buy food elsewhere. In the right part of the square rises the medieval town hall, Broletto, and next to it is visible the back part of the substantial, but a formless Duomo. Its construction began already in the early Renaissance, and was completed only in the thirties of our century. The cathedral's west wall is currently under renovation, as the neighboring Torre Civica collapsed in March 1989 (they died then 4 persons) caused some damage there.
The most beautiful church in the city is the Romanesque San Michele on Via Cavallotti, five minutes from the Duomo. Capitals and friezes on its broad, the facade is made of sandstone, they are decorated with a whole menagerie of mysterious creatures, fish with a snake tail, griffins (winged lions with the head of an eagle), smoków et al., some of which are depicted fighting people, symbolizing the struggle between good and evil. In a different part of the city center, at the beginning of the Strada Nuova, rises completed in the year 1132 Church of San Piętro in Ciel d'Oro, in which it is worth paying attention to the magnificent 14th-century altar. Nearby Castello (IV-X 10.00-12.15 and 14.30-17.15; X-III 10.00-12.00 and 14.00-16.00; VIII, XII and I only 9.00-13.00) was started by Galeazzo II Visconti in 1360 and expanded by the Sforza family. The castle's raw exterior once housed luxurious apartments, most of which were in a wing that was destroyed by the French in a year 1527. To year 1921 the castle served as a barracks and despite the renovation, the preserved rooms do not look very interesting.
You can visit an art gallery here, covering a selection of Venetian painting, archaeological museum with a collection of jewelry, clay and glass vessels and a sculpture museum, where architectural fragments saved from demolished churches are exhibited, mosaics and sculptures. The most impressive of the latter are the reconstructed portals from the 11th and 12th centuries. The castle looks the most picturesque on summer evenings, when concerts, opera and ballet performances take place in the courtyard (details in EPT).