Pavia

Ponte coperto (Covered bridge)

A day trip from Milan to see the  in Pavia, famous for its covered bridge and the Certosa (Chapterhouse - i.e. a Carthusian monastery), which is 7km outside the city. The logistics by public transport from Milan were quite challenging, but we eventually came up with a brilliant plan: main line train from Milan Centrale to Pavia, local train from Pavia to Certosa di Pavia (on the line to Milan Porto Genova), then Certosa di Pavia to Milan Porto Genova. Italian railways are just wonderful!

Milan Centrale is in fact worthy of a visit in its own right. The design was supposed to be in the style of Grand Central in New York, with work starting in 1912. By the time it was opened in 1931, a fascist flavour had been injected by Mussolini. This photo shows the main hall, once the booking hall. The lights on the right lead to stairs up to the departures level.

The decorative theme seems to be the glory of the Roman empire.

We reached Pavia in 30 minutes and headed for the river and then turned left to reach the wonderful covered bridge. The original bridge was Roman, but it was replaced in 1354. The medieval bridge was badly damaged during the Second World War. Debates about whether to replace or repair were resolved when part of what remained collapse. The current is a few meters away from the previous one and has five arches compared to the previous seven and towers with drawbridges at each end. It is a fine sight, but to be honest I was disappointed that it was a kind of replica, rather than an ancient structure which had been restored, as I had previously supposed.

In the centre is a chapel dedicated to St John Nepomuk, a Bohemiam saint who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia. If this was Good King Wenceslas, I am shocked.

This is the view downstream along the River Ticino (a tributary of the Po) seen from the centre of the bridge.

We headed then into the city to get a feel for its character. Rather quiet and modest, would be the summary, with no major sights. We found the red brick cathedral, begin in the 15th century, which was quite impressive. It is built on the central or Greek Cross plan: the nave is the same length as the transepts.

After a refreshing drink in a cafe on the main street, we came to the fine church of Santa Maria del Carmine. It is considered to be one the best examples of Lombard Gothic architecture. It was begun in 1374.

As we headed back along quiet streets towards the station we emerged onto the main street and admired this art deco surprise.

A little further along was a large house on the corner of the Piazzale Minerve with fabulous decorations around the windows.

Piazzale Minerve is teh intersection of several roads, but it dominated by the massive statue of Minerva, named for the Roman goddess of War and Wisdom. The Greek equivalent would be Athena.

The statue is magnificent but also rather over the top, which almost guarantees that it dates from the period of Mussolini's rule - 1938 in fact. The architect was Francisco Messina.

We soon reached the station and were lucky to immediate get a train to Certosa di Pavia. It is about a km around the walls of the the Certosa to reach the frescoed entrance.

You go through the entrance passage an emerge into a rectangular courtyard with buildings on both sides and the quite magnificent church facing you the end.

The church was commissioned by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the first Duke of Milan, in 1396. The initial architect was Marco Solari, later succeeded by his son and grandson. It strikes me as quite unusual for the name of the architect of a church of such antiquity to be known. The nave, two aisles and transept were built in the Gothic style, but the facade is in the Renaissance style by a new generation of architects.

The carving of the marble facade is exceptional. I will just pick out one panel, to the left of the portal, showing Adan and Eve and the serpent. It is a bit battered, but is work of great delicacy.

Before going in we looked around the side to see the transepts, in beautiful red brick with delicate round arched arcades.

The inside is splendid with extensive murals, especially in the transepts and choir (no pictures are allowed). We joined a guided tour, which was sensitively delivered, but our Italian wasn't up to the job. It seemed to mainly involve descriptions of the subject matter of the frescoes and marbles, but with little attention to their dates or the artists who produced them.

Neither could we get at the Small Cloister (though photographs suggest it is very lovely). We did see the well-named Grand Cloister however, the largest I have ever seen - it measures about 125 by 100 metres. The pavilions around the edge house the monks' cells.

Conditions: hot and sunny.

Rating: five stars for the magnificent Certosa, four for the city.