Monday, July 20, 2009

Pavia - Day 9

Visconti Palace

Today we had originally planned to go to Monaco and Nice, but decided we didn't really have time to make it there. It would have been 10 hours on a train to get there and back to Pavia and only two hours in Nice. So we headed back to Pavia instead.

Pavia used to be a very influential city and is mentioned in works of literature by writers such as Dante. It's not a big tourist destination and we have heard very little English here. There are great examples of Romanesque architecture throughout the city as well as a gothic church. St. Augustine is buried here. The city used to be filled with tall towers which gave it the name "The City of 100 Towers." You can still see some of these towers today. The clock at the top of this one still tells the correct time.

Pavia is where David is spending all of his time except for the weekend that he had free to go to Cinque Terre with us. The university here was originally started in 900 something AD and the current structure was built in the 1300s (see below). Incredible!


We spent the afternoon walking the entire city for about four hours and saw most of the sites. Tomorrow we plan to visit a monastery that is four miles to the north.


1 comment:

Wes and Danielle said...

Yes we will have to go. I have to tell you that I sure do miss you, but I know you guys are having a blast. It was fun to have David over right before he left. Can't wait to hear all about it from you!!