Pavia, One of the Most Historic Cities on the Via Francigena

Pavia’s history is so incredibly rich that I hesitate to describe any of it, but a few things stood out for me.

St. Augustine

The remains of St. Augustine, who died in 430, are housed in an elaborately carved marble ark at the 14th-century Basilica of San Pietro in Pavia. They were brought to the city by King Liutprand in the 8th century to save them from Saracen raids in Sardinia.

St. Augustine is a huge figure in Christian history, but the particular connection for me is that the quote I use as a tagline for this blog, “Solvitur Ambulando” (It is solved by walking) is attributed to him.

Although I celebrate his walking quote, St. Augustine is also the theologian who coined the phrase, “original sin”, and his lifelong advocacy of the concept is what prompted the Church to adopt it as a fundamental principle of Christianity. Personally, I think the idea of original sin (and its various implications)is responsible for a profound amount of unnecessary emotional damage over the ages – but that’s a much longer discussion, and I respect your right to disagree with me vehemently.

The University of Pavia

The University of Pavia was founded in 1343 (a humbling 149 years before the discovery of America), and it has been in continuous operation since then. Interestingly, it doesn’t have a main campus. Instead, its buildings and facilities are scattered around the city, which is described as a “city campus”. I think that helps energize the entire city since young people are everywhere.

The Cathedral of Pavia

The 15th-century Cathedral of Pavia has a rough-hewn brick exterior, which contrasts with its crisp white interior.

Tragically, the Cathedral’s 236-foot, 11th-century bell tower collapsed without warning in 1989 causing four deaths and leaving the city in shock. The tower was not reconstructed,, but the ruins have been preserved as a memorial site.

The collapse of the bell tower caused widespread alarm regarding the stability of other historic leaning structures. As a direct result, the Italian government closed the Leaning Tower of Pisa (186’ high) for structural repairs in 1990. After significant remediation work, the Tower of Pisa was reopened to the public in December 2001.

Einstein lived in Pavia from 1894 to 1896.

I didn’t know that Einstein had lived in Pavia until Becca told me, but he lived there with his family after dropping out of his strict high school in Munich. He continued visiting his family in Pavia while he attended university in Switzerland until his father’s electromechanical business failed in 1896.

While in Pavia, Einstein alternated his studies with exploring the city, taking bicycle excursions, nighttime swims in the Ticino River, and hiking in the Apennines. He looked back on that time fondly for the rest of his life.

It was during his time in Pavia when Einstein began to express a much deeper interest in science. When he was 15, he wrote his first scientific paper, “On the Investigation of the State of the Ether in a Magnetic Field”. That boggles my mind.

Getting to know Jessie from Quebec

Jessie and I were able to grab a beer together Tuesday evening, and he was a fascinating young man. He spent 10 years working as a tech in chemical plants, where he made good money, but he also learned he wanted something more. He is in university now working on his mathematics degree, and he plans to go on to grad school afterward. He is passionate about math and philosophy and the fact that mathematics works on the “why” behind things. He has also used his savings from his plant work to walk pilgrimages in Spain and Japan, and his goal in walking the Via Francigena was “a proof of concept” for his goal of walking the Pacific Coast Trail. Surprisingly, he said he had never hiked before beginning his first pilgrimage, but doing them has convinced him that he is capable of tackling the PCT.

I realized when we were talking that he is the first pilgrim I’ve met who has walked all the way from Canterbury, so it was a lot of fun comparing our impressions of different aspects of the Via Francigena as well as the internal journey you take walking alone for months. But, of course, I failed to get a photo.

Next up: From Pavia to Piacenza (with stops in Belgioioso and Orio Litta)