Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

PAVIA (anc. Ticinum, q.v.)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 971 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

PAVIA (anc. See also:Ticinum, q.v.) , a See also:town of See also:Lombardy, See also:Italy, See also:capital of the See also:province of Pavia, situated on the See also:Ticino about 2 M. above its junction with the Po, 221 M. S. of See also:Milan by See also:rail, 253 ft. above See also:sea-level. Pop. (1906), 28,796 (town), 36,424 (See also:commune). On the right See also:bank of the See also:river lies the small suburb of Borgo Ticino, connected with the town by a remark-able covered See also:bridge dating from 1351–1354. In 1872 the See also:city ceased to be a fortress, and the bastions have been transformed into boulevards and public gardens. The See also:church of See also:San Michele See also:Maggiore is one of the finest specimens of the Lombard See also:style in existence, and as it was within its walls that the See also:crown was placed on the See also:head of those " See also:kings of Italy " from whom the See also:house of See also:Savoy claims descent it was by royal See also:decree of 1863 given the See also:title of See also:Basilica Reale. S. Michele (for See also:plan see See also:ARCHITECTURE: § Romanesque and See also:Gothic in Italy) was originally constructed under the Lombard kings, but was burnt in 1004, and the See also:present See also:building See also:dates from the latter See also:part of the 11th (See also:crypt, See also:choir and transepts) and the first See also:half of the 12th centuries (See also:facade and See also:nave with two aisles), and was completed in 1155. The See also:lower part of the facade is adorned with three See also:fine portals and with reliefs of a fantastic See also:kind in See also:sandstone, arranged in See also:horizontal bands, and has arcading under the gable. The See also:dome is octagonal.

The interior is vaulted and has eight pillars, supporting See also:

double See also:round See also:arches. The interior has a See also:mosaic See also:pavement of the 12th–13th centuries. The See also:cathedral church of San Martino is a See also:Renaissance building begun in 1488 by Cristoforo Rocchi; it is a vast " central " structure, finely designed, with four arms, which remained for centuries unfinished until the dome (only surpassed by those of St See also:Peter at See also:Rome and the cathedral at See also:Florence) and facade were completed in 1898 according to Rocchi's still extant See also:model; adjoining the church is the massive Torre Maggiore, 258 ft. high, which is mentioned as See also:early as 1330. The upper part is due to Pellegrino Tibaldi (1583). The cathedral contains the See also:tomb of S. Syrus, first See also:bishop of Pavia (2nd See also:century); an See also:altar-piece (1521), the best See also:work of Giampietino (Rizzi), a See also:pupil of Leonardo da See also:Vinci; and another, the masterpiece of Bernardino Gatti of See also:Parma (1531). The church of S. Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, the origin of which dates from the beginning of the 6th (?) century, but which as it stands was consecrated in 1132, is very similar to S. Michele in respect of its facade (though it has not the elaborate sculptures), dome and mosaic pavements. The use of disks of See also:majolica may be noted in the decoration of the exterior. It has been carefully restored. It served as the See also:burial See also:place of the Lombard See also:king Liutprand (7r1–744), whose bones were found there in 1896 (R.

Majocchi in Nuovo bulletino d'archeologia cristiana, 1896, p. 139). The See also:

Area di S. See also:Agostino (after 1362) is a sumptuous tomb containing the See also:relics of S. See also:Augustine of See also:Hippo brought hither by Liutprand from See also:Sardinia. It was only restored to this, its See also:original position, from the cathedral when the church itself was restored. The church of S. Maria del See also:Carmine is externally one of themost beautiful of the See also:brick Gothic churches in See also:northern Italy and dates from 1273 (or 1323?). S. See also:Francesco has also a See also:good facade after that of Chiaravalle near Milan. The church of S. Maria di Canepanova with its small dome was designed by See also:Bramante.

Near it are three tall, slender brick towers of the Gothic See also:

period. S. Teodoro with a 12th-century exterior has frescoes by Bartolommeo See also:Suardi (Bramantino) after 1507. Outside the town on the See also:west See also:lie the churches of S. Salvatore (founded in the 7th century but rebuilt in the 15th and 16th), and of S. See also:Lanfranc (or the See also:Holy See also:Sepulchre, 12th century) with the fine tomb of Bishop Lanfranco Beccari (d. 1189) by Giovanni See also:Antonio Amedeo (1498), one of the best Lombard sculptors and architects of this period (1447–1522) and a native of Pavia, which has a few other See also:works by him. He was for eighteen years in See also:charge of the work at the Certosa. Interesting See also:medieval views of Pavia exist in the churches of S. Teodoro and S. Salvatore; the former dating from 1522 has been published by P. Moiraghi in Bullettino storico pavese (1893), i.

41 sqq. (See See also:

Magenta, I See also:Visconti e gli See also:Sforza nel See also:castello di Pavia (Milan, 1884), for other medieval plans.) Of the See also:secular buildings the most noteworthy is the university founded by Galeazzo II. in 1361 on the site of a See also:law school probably founded by Lanfranc (d. 1089), though we find Pavia a centre of study as early as A.D. 825. The present imposing building was begun by Lodovico it See also:Moro in 1490; in the library are preserved some of the ashes of See also:Columbus, who was a student here. See also:Volta made here his first See also:electrical experiments. For the See also:maintenance of a number of poor students there are two subsidiary colleges, the See also:Borromeo and the Ghislieri founded by S. Carlo Borromeo (1563) and See also:Pope See also:Pius V. (1569); of the latter a See also:colossal See also:bronze statue has been erected in the piazza before his See also:college. The university of Pavia has See also:long been famous as a medical school, and has the See also:oldest anatomical See also:cabinet in Italy; in addition it has a natural See also:history museum founded under Spallanzini in 1772, a botanical See also:garden, begun in 1774, and excellent See also:geological, palaeontological and mineralogical collections. The old See also:castle of the Visconti built in 1360 for Galeazzo II. is used as See also:barracks. The Museo Civico is housed in the Palazzo Malaspina and contains many interesting See also:national relics and a small picture See also:gallery, with a large collection of offprints on See also:paper from See also:niello plates, including a very fine " See also:Fountain of Love " by Antonio Pollainolo; another fine old See also:palace, the Palazzo Mezzabarba, is now used as the Municipio.

Pavia has a number of See also:

iron-foundries, military See also:engineering and electrical See also:production works, and other factories, as well as a large covered See also:market, built in 1882. Pavia lies on the See also:main See also:line from Milan to See also:Genoa (which crosses the Ticino by a bridge half a mile long, and shortly afterwards the Po), with several See also:branch lines. See also:Barges from Pavia can pass down the Po to the Adriatic or to Milan by See also:canal. Five See also:miles See also:north of Pavia is the Carthusian monastery of Certosa di Pavia, one of the most magnificent in the See also:world. Its founder Gian Galeazzo Visconti (also the founder of Milan Cathedral) laid the first See also:stone in See also:August 1396, and the nave was then begun in the Gothic style, but was not completed until 1465. However the See also:influence of the Early Renaissance had meanwhile become supreme throughout Italy, and the See also:rest of the church with its See also:external arcaded galleries and lofty pinnacles (including the fine dome) and the cloisters were executed in the new style under Guiniforte Solari (1453–1481) with details in terra-See also:cotta of See also:great beauty and richness. Giovanni Antonio Amedeo was See also:chief architect in 1481–1499, and the lower part of the facade was finished in 1507. It is perhaps the finest piece of elaborate and richly adorned Renaissance architecture in existence, and is the work of a number of different artists. In the See also:south See also:transept of the church is the tomb of the founder; the figure of Galeazzo guarded by angels lies under a See also:marble See also:canopy, with the Madonna in a See also:niche above. It was begun in 1494–1497 by Giovanni Cristoforo Romano and Benedetto See also:Briosco, but was not finished until 1562. In the north transept is the tomb of Lodovico Sforza, it Moro, and his wife, the figures on which were brought from S. Maria della Grazie in 1564 when the See also:monument of the See also:prince in that church was broken up and sold; these statues are considered to be one of the chief works of Cristoforo Solari.

The church contains numerous other works of See also:

art. An elegant portal leads from the church into the small See also:cloister, which has a See also:pretty garden in the centre; the terra-cotta ornaments surmounting the slender marble pillars are the work of Rinaldo de Stauris (1463-1478), who executed similar decorations in the great cloister. This cloister is 412 ft. long by 334 ft. wide and contains 24 cells of the monks, pleasant little three-roomed houses each with its own garden. Within the confines of the monastery is the Palazzo Ducale which since 1901 has been occupied by the Certosa museum. The Carthusian monks, to whom the monastery was entrusted by the founder, were See also:bound to employ a certain proportion of their See also:annual See also:revenue in prosecuting the work till its completion, and even after 1542 the monks continued voluntarily to expend large sums on further decoration. The Certosa di Pavia is thus a See also:practical textbook of See also:Italian art for wellnigh three centuries. The See also:Carthusians were expelled in 1782 by the See also:emperor See also:Joseph II., and after being held by the See also:Cistercians in 1784 .nd the See also:Carmelites in 1789 the monastery was closed in 181o. In 1843 the Certosa was restored to the Carthusians and was exempted from See also:confiscation in 1866, but it has since been declared a national monument. History.—For earlier period see TICINUM. Under the name Papia (Pavia) the city became, as the capital of the Lombard See also:kingdom, one of the leading cities of Italy. By the See also:conquest of Pavia and the See also:capture of See also:Desiderius in 774 See also:Charlemagne completely destroyed the Lombard supremacy; but the city continued to be the centre of the Carolingian See also:power in Italy, and a royal See also:residence was built in the neighbourhood (Corteolona on the Olona). It was in San Michele Maggiore in Pavia that Berengar of See also:Friuli, and his quasi-See also:regal successors down to Berenga,r II. and See also:Adalbert II., were crowned " kings of Italy." Under the reign of the first the city was sacked and burned by the Hungarians, and the bishop was among those who perished.

At Pavia was celebrated in 951 the See also:

marriage of See also:Otto I. and Adelheid (See also:Adelaide), which exercised so important an influence on the relations of the See also:empire and Italy; but, when the See also:succession to the crown of Italy came to be disputed between the emperor See also:Henry II. and Arduin of See also:Ivrea, the city sided strongly with the latter. Laid in ruins by Henry, who was attacked by the citizens on the See also:night after his See also:coronation in 1004, it was none the less ready to See also:close its See also:gates on See also:Conrad the Salic in Io26. In the 11th and 12th centuries we find Pavia called the " Second Rome." The See also:jealousy between Pavia and Milan having in Io56 broken out into open See also:war, Pavia had recourse to the hated emperors, though she seems to have taken no part in the See also:battle of See also:Legnano; and for the most part she remained attached to the Ghibelline party till the latter part of the 14th century. From 136o, when Galeazzo was appointed imperial See also:vicar by See also:Charles IV., Pavia became practically a See also:possession of the Visconti See also:family and in due course formed part of the duchy of Milan. For its insurrection against the See also:French See also:garrison in 1499 it paid a terrible See also:penalty in 1500, and in 1512, after the victory of See also:Ravenna, Pavia presented to See also:Louis XII., as a sign of fidelity, a magnificent See also:standard: this however See also:fell into the hands of Swiss mercenaries and was sent to See also:Fribourg as a See also:trophy of war (it no longer exists). Having been strongly fortified by Charles V., the city was in 1525 able to bid See also:defiance to See also:Francis I., who was so disastrously beaten in the vicinity, but two years later the French under See also:Lautrec subjected it to a See also:sack of seven days. In 1655 Prince See also:Thomas of Savoy invested Pavia with an See also:army of 20,000 Frenchmen, but had to withdraw after 52 days' See also:siege. The Austrians under Prince See also:Eugene occupied it in 1706, the French in 1733 and the French and Spaniards in 1743; and the Austrians were again in possession from 1746 till 1796. In May of that See also:year it was seized by See also:Napoleon, who, to punish it for an insurrection, condemned it to three days' pillage. In 1814 it became See also:Austrian once more. The revolutionary See also:movement of See also:February 1848 was crushed by the Austrians and the university was closed; and, though the. Sardinian forces obtained possession in See also:March, the Austrians soon recoveredtheir ground.

It was not till 1859 that Pavia passed with the rest of Lombardy to the Sardinian crown. At several periods Pavia has been the centre of great intellectual activity. It was according to tradition in a See also:

tower which, previous to 1584, stood near the church of the Annunziata that Boethius wrote his De consolatione philosophiae; the legal school of Pavia was rendered celebrated in the Irth century by Lanfranc (afterwards See also:archbishop of See also:Canterbury); See also:Petrarch was frequently here as the See also:guest of Galeazzo II., and his See also:grandson died and was buried here. Columbus studied at the university. about 1465; and See also:printing was introduced in 1471. Two of the bishops of Pavia were raised to the papal See also:throne as See also:John XIV. and See also:Julius III. Lanfranc, Pope John XIV., Porta the anatomist and See also:Cremona the mathematician were See also:barn in the city. See C. Dell' Acqua, Guida illustrate di Pavia (Pavia, 1900), and refs. there given; L. Beltrami, La See also:Chartreuse de Pavie (Milan, 1899); See also:Scoria documentata della Certosa di Pavia (Milan, 1896). (T.

End of Article: PAVIA (anc. Ticinum, q.v.)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
PAVEMENT (Lat. pavimentu;n, a floor beaten or ramme...
[next]
PAVIA Y ALBUQUERQUE, MANUEL (1828-1895)