We were very much in need of our rest today! We remembered to re-set our watch alarms, but were woken at 0700 anyway when the workmen started resurfacing the road outside our window. Fortunately the combination of double glazing and shutters keeps out the worst of the noise. Laundry done and spread out on and hung above radiators to dry, we set out to find somewhere to have a nice lunch. We found it at a small cafe on Corso Cavour where we ate a delightful salad of tuna, mozzarella di buffa, avocado and olives, with a glass of local white wine.
After lunch we set off to visit the Cathedral or Duomo, dedicated to St Stephen Martyr and St Mary of the Assumption. The building of this cathedral was begun in the 15th century, replacing two earlier churches. It is still incomplete as the intended marble cladding has yet to be added, although we rather like the decorative brickwork. The dome is the third largest in Italy after St Peter’s in Rome (not strictly in Italy, but Vatican City) and Florence, and very impressive it is. We could see the dome on the skyline well before we got to Pavia a couple of days ago, and inside the building it is breathtakingly huge. The dome is in the shape of an irregular octagon measuring 97 metres high and 34 metres wide, and is said to weigh some 20,000 tonnes. Supporting pillars recently required some additional reinforcement because of the huge load they carry.
One of the other features of the cathedral is a set of tombs of the early bishops, which we found slightly gruesome. Also commemorated here are several notable people associated with Pavia, including Ioannes Volta (1745-1827) who (amongst other things) invented the battery (known initially as a voltaic pile) and discovered that igniting a mixture of methane and air causes an explosion – the basis for the combustion engine. The University of Pavia was one of the oldest and most prestigious places of learning in medieval and Renaissance Europe, and still teaches vast numbers of students today.
One of the reasons we’ve been particularly interested to visit Pavia is the link with Lanfranc, former Archbishop of Canterbury (1070-1089). Lanfranc, who was the predecessor and very much the mentor of Saint Anselm, both at Bec Abbey in Normandy and as Archbishop of Canterbury. He was born in Pavia in the early years of the 11th Century. The son of a magistrate, he was trained in the liberal arts and as a jurist, but gave this all up for a monastic life. He joined Bec Abbey in Normandy where he set up a school before becoming Abbot. His subsequent appointment to the Archbishopric of Canterbury coincided with a period of significant disagreement with the English King over control of the church and its property, which continued on after his death and the appointment of his pupil Anselm. See the blog entry for Aosta. A statue of Lanfranc can be seen over the south west door of Canterbury Cathedral.
It was while visiting Pavia Cathedral that we found reference to the Chiesa (Basilica) San Lanfranco: a former abbey on the west side of Pavia. Since we’d found no reference to our Lanfranc at the Cathedral, which of course was founded nearly a century after his death, we decided to take a bus out and have a look for ourselves to see what links we could find.
First, we went to the tourist office to get our pilgrim passports stamped, and to check how the local buses work, ie where to get tickets, and were assisted by a very helpful young man. We had a long and interesting conversation about Italian politics, the benefits of working abroad and travelling, and of learning about other cultures and languages. The younger generation of Italians is just as concerned about the reemergence of the extreme right-wing in Italy as is the rest of Europe. He was worried that people, especially the older ones, are voting for people they find entertaining, rather than for the policies they represent. Like us, he felt that the media representation of policies is too shallow. He pointed out that Italy is as it is now because of decisions made by his parents’ generation, and yet they bemoan the very changes they have brought about. Meanwhile, their children are just trying to navigate life as they find it to be now. There are some lessons for us all there.
Disappointingly for us, it seems that the San Lanfranco (Lanfranco Beccari) after whom the Basilica was dedicated, lived some hundred years after our Archbishop Lanfranc, and therefore this church didn’t provide the link we were hoping for. However we did find the remnants of a fresco depicting the murder of Thomas a Becket on the nave wall.
There are many other places of interest in Pavia but we have had limited time and energy for sightseeing during this visit. We will need to make another early start tomorrow to make the most of the shorter daylight hours for walking. Time now to go out to find somewhere to have supper!