Certossa di Pavia, Italy | The Traveled Mind

Italy-England 2008

The Certossa di Pavia is about 45 minutes south of Milan and is run by the Cisternian order (I believe) of monks. It has a beautiful cathedral and lovely grounds.

We first entered through this gate.

We do have a straight-on shot of the church, but as usual, it was in renovation so parts of it were covered, obscuring its impact.

This should give you some idea of scale.

The interiors are a soft gray with brilliant turquoise blues, brick-ish reds and golds.

I could have a whole room in this color.

The transept had companion artworks on each end, although different. However both were done in this brilliant turquoisey blue.

The high altar and choir seats.

I liked the wooden fronts to the choir–all inlaid woods in different designs.

The picture at the other end of the transept–the monks presenting a model of the cathedral to Mary and the Baby Jesus.

A lovely fresco in a side room.

The first courtyard. We were being hustled out for their “pausa“–the Italian word for siesta.

The cathedral roofline from the courtyard.

Communal sink for washing up.

The monks lived in solitary confinement in the old days, one monk to each of these little rooms, the food delivered through small doors. Of course, the tour was in Italian, so we didn’t get much of it.

A lovely side-trip in the country before heading on to Milan.

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