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I Love Touring Italy - Small Town Lombardy
If you are looking for a European tourist destination,
consider the Lombardy region of northern Italy. Depending
on your interests, this beautiful area might be an ideal
vacation spot. You can get classic Italian food, and wash
it down with fine local wine. There are even some parts of
Lombardy that are relatively undiscovered by tourists. This
article presents Lombardy outside of its capital Milan or
the beautiful Lake districts and New York City travel, which are described in
companion articles in this series.

Over the millennia Lombardy has been in the hands of
numerous invaders including the Etruscans and the Gauls,
then the Romans, Franks, and Goths, and finally the French,
Spaniards, and Austrians. Did we forget the Lombards? All
of these invaders left their mark, some more and some less.
Keep local history in mind as you tour this impressive
region.

We start our tour at Pavia about twenty-five miles (forty
kilometers) south of Milan. Then we proceed southeast to
Cremona. We continue east to finish this short tour at
Mantua near the Veneto border.

It may be hard to believe today, but once upon a time
little Pavia (population about 70 thousand) was a major
rival of nearby Milan (city population about 1.3 million
and metropolitan population over 5 million.) Its defeat by
the Barbarians in 476 commonly marks the end of the Western
Roman Empire. Almost nine hundred years later the
internationally known University of Pavia was founded,
based on a law and divinity school established by the year
825. Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta was
the most famous individual associated with this university.
In case you forgot your high school science, Volta
discovered methane gas and invented the electric battery.
When you think about volts and voltage, think about Pavia.

Arguably the most famous native of Pavia was Benedetto
Cairoli, the 13th and 15th Prime Minister of the Kingdom of
Italy. He was somewhat of a hero during Risorgimento (the
fight for Italian independence) but had a relatively
undistinguished career as Prime Minister with a single
exception. Cairoli risked his life and was severely wounded
when he successfully protected the unpopular King Umberto I
from assassination early in his reign. Now let’s consider
Pavia’s sights.

Pavia is home to several other churches worth seeing. The
Lombard-Romanesque San Michele Maggiore Church was built on
the site of a preexisting Lombard church. First destroyed
shortly after the turn of the first millennium it was
rebuilt during the Twelfth Century. The Basilica of San
Pietro in Ciel d’Oro (St. Peter in Golden Sky) actually
originated in the beginning of the Seventh Century. Its
name refers to gold leaf mosaics that formerly decorated
parts of the ceiling. This basilica was featured in
Bocaccio’s Decameron. You may also want to see the
Thirteenth Century brick Santa Maria del Carmine Church and
the Renaissance Santa Maria di Canepanova Church.

Head about five miles (eight kilometers) north of town to
see Pavia’s number one attraction, the Fifteenth Century
Certosa di Pavia (Charterhouse of Pavia) monastery. This
complex, which took over one hundred years to build, is
considered an excellent expression of Gothic and
Renaissance architecture. It includes a great collection of
paintings and stained glass windows. The church was meant
to house the tombs of its owners, the noble Visconti family
but only one family member is actually buried there. His
tomb took over sixty years to build. Nearby is the tomb of
another Duke and his wife Beatrice d’Este, a real
Renaissance woman and a beauty as well, who died in
childbirth at age 22. You may have heard of her
sister-in-law, Lucrezia Borgia.

The city of Cremona, population about seventy thousand, was
first settled well over two thousand years ago. The famous
Roman poet Virgil went to school there and owned a family
farm in the vicinity. Another name is indelibly linked to
this city, that of Antonio Stradivari, the world’s greatest
violinmaker. His masterpieces are simply the world’s
best-known and most expensive stringed instruments. As they
say about yachts, if you have to ask the price, you can’t
afford it. It’s not sour grapes, but what would I do with a
Stradivari violin, or mandolin? Perhaps trade it for
vintage wine and Champagne.

The violin as we know it was invented in Cremona around
1564 by Andrea Amati who died more than sixty years before
Stradivari was born. The Guarneri family created world
famous violins here and elsewhere in Italy. Even today
there are more than 50 violinmakers in Cremona. The Piazza
Roma square near Stradivari’s house and workshop contains
his tombstone and grave. The city includes the Scuola
Internazionale di Liuteria (International School of Violin
Making) and the Museo Stradivariano (Stradivarius Museum)

Our next and final stop is the city of Mantua whose
population is slightly under fifty thousand. Some say that
Mantua was founded about four thousand years ago. The great
Roman poet Virgil was born in a nearby village. In the
Twelfth Century Mantua adopted a novel means of protection
against invasion, namely four artificial lakes that ringed
the city. Three of them exist to this day; the fourth dried
up in the Eighteenth Century. As Shakespeare tells it so
well, Romeo fled to Mantua after killing Juliet’s cousin in
a swordfight. Talk about a family feud.

Mantua’s Palazzo Ducale was built between the Fourteenth
and Seventeenth Centuries, perhaps not so surprising when
you realize that it contains 500 rooms. Its centerpiece is
the Camera degli Sposi (The Wedding Chamber) room that took
Andrea Mantegna about seven years to paint. When you see
it, you’ll know why. Since you’re only allowed ten minutes
to admire this marvelous, unique room you should
familiarize yourself with the painting before your allotted
time slot. One more thing, don’t forget to look at the
ceiling.

Finish your tour at the suburban Palazzo Te built in the
Sixteenth Century. Unlike many other historic Italian
buildings this one was completed in only ten years. In fact
its shell went up in eighteen months. In spite of its
speedy construction it is considered one of the greatest
Renaissance palaces. Make sure to see the Camera di Amore e
Psiche (Cupid and Psyche’s Room) showing a wedding with
interesting and unusual guests and the Camera dei Giganti
(Room of the Titans) in which Jupiter expels the Titans
from Mount Olympus. The walls contain graffiti dating back
to the Seventeenth Century. Please don’t add your own.

What about food? Of Italy’s twenty regions Lombardy trails
only Emilia-Romagna in food production. A lot of the food
is of foreign origin, not surprising given the frequency
with which Lombardy fell under outside domination. But
there are also local specialties. For example, Cremona is
known for Mostarda, mustard flavored candied fruits that
accompany Bollito Misto, mixed boiled meats. A local
version of this treat calls for calf’s head, veal tongue,
and pig’s foot among others. Cremona also claims to have
invented ravioli.

Let’s suggest a sample menu, one of many. Start with Zuppa
alla Pavese (Soup with Bread, Butter, Eggs, and grated
Parmesan Cheese). Then try Bollito Misto (Mixed Boiled
Meats). For dessert indulge yourself with Colombe Pasquale
(dove shaped Easter Bread with Candied Fruit). Be sure to
increase your dining pleasure by including local wines with
your meal.

We conclude with a quick look at Lombardy wine. Lombardy
ranks 11th among the 20 Italian regions for both acreage
devoted to wine grapes and for total annual wine
production. The region produces about 62% red and rose and
38% white wine, but there is little rose. There are 15 DOC
wines. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata,
which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled
Origin, presumably a high-quality wine. The G in DOCG
stands for Garantita, but there is in fact no guarantee
that such wines are truly superior. Over 47% of Lombardy
wine carries the DOC or DOCG designation. There are three
DOCG wines: the sparkling Franciacorta said to compete with
French Champagne and priced accordingly, the red Sforzato
di Valtellina, and the red Valtellina Superiore.

Lambrusco Mantovano DOC is a red or rose dry or sweet fizzy
wine produced southeast of Mantua from local grapes. The
San Colombano al Lambro DOC is red or white still or fizzy
wine made from a variety of local grapes about halfway
between Milan and Cremona. By far the area’s best-known
wine is the Oltrepo Pavese DOC grown south of Pavia, across
the Po River, hence its name. This wine is made in multiple
styles from multiple grape varieties and is said to be the
most popular wine in Milan.

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Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on
computers and the Internet, but he prefers drinking fine
Italian or other wine, accompanied by the right foods and
people. He knows about dieting but now eats and drinks what
he wants, in moderation. He teaches classes in computers at
an Ontario French-language community college. His new wine,
diet, health, and nutrition website
http://www.wineinyourdiet.com links to his other sites.