Situation
The old Lombard town of Pavia, now a provincial capital, lies on the River Ticino near its junction with the Po, in the western part of the north Italian plain. It is linked with Milan by a shipping canal, the Naviglio di Pavia. With its old brick
buildings it has preserved much of its medieval aspect and is notable particularly for its beautiful churches in Lombard Romanesque style. Of its once numerous towers, the fortified residences of noble families, few now remain, but it still has remains of the ramparts and bastions of the Spanish period. Pavia is the seat of a university.
History
Pavia, the Roman Ticinum, was a favorite residence of Theodoric the Great, and after the fall of Ravenna became for a short time the Ostrogothic capital. From 572 to 774 it was capital of the Lombard kingdom. From the seventh c. the town was known as Papia. During the Middle Ages many kings of Italy were crowned in the church of San Michele, as were the emperors Henry II and Frederick Barbarossa. The town remained for the most part faithful to the emperor, until it was handed over to the Visconti family by Charles IV in 1359. Francis I of France was defeated and taken prisoner at Pavia in 1525. In the 18th century the town was taken over by the Austrian Habsburg line.
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