Itineraries

THE C0 D'LA' CONTRADAS
In the time when Vigevano was a walled town, from the middle of the fourteenth century to the end of the nineteenth, the people of Vigevano called the "contradas" situated on the south of the Castle "CO D'LA' (which meant the ones outside the walls or "terraggi") and those which were inside the walls "CO D'SA' (which meant inside the walls). Let's start our itinerary from the Ducal Square along the ancient roads which radiate from it southwards: the first of these streets is Via XX Settembre. Have a look at the many well preserved small balconies in wrought iron of the buildings of 18th-19th centuries on either side of the street. Few metres farther on, on the left there is the Episcopal Seminary , built in 1530 with Duke Francesco II's Sforza's contribution. Enlarged in 1691 when the Hospital of St. Mary and Marta was added to it, it was radically restored in 1879 and completely remade in 1960. Coming back to Via XX Settembre you will find the former Cannon D'Oro Hotel at Ní 24/32; on the front a memorial plaque reminds us that Eleonora Duse was born here on October 3rd, 1858. At the end of the street there is the Portone, the medieval arch beneath the Roofed Road which was built in 1341 by the podestà of Vigevano and Luchino Visconti, Duke of Milan. Stop one moment beyond the Portone to observe, on the right, in Via Riberia the only part of the Castle visible from the outside. On the right of the street there is the back of the Donjon against which leans the "Loggia delle Dame" (the Ladies' Loggia) attributed to Donato Bramante. The yard which is said to be "the Duchess's yard" is separated from the street by a very high wall and in the eighteenth century was lowered to street level. Come back to the "Portone" and walk into Via Cairoli, the Roman "Strata", very busy in the 13th/14th centuries because it connected the village with Pavia and the Lomellina. The pretty little St . George's church, At Nr 22 noteworthy is the impressive faìade of the Saporiti Palace, built in 1828 as a school which was given to the Comune by the Saporiti Palace , On the opposite side, a little farther on, there is the Saporiti College built in 1839. At present it is occupied by the Classical and Scientific Lyceums and a professional School. Round the right corner of the college, Via Saporiti will take you again in Via Riberia; this part of the town is called the "Contrada di Valle" (the Valley Contrada); it developed in the 12th/13th centuries when the houses were built in a spiral way around the primitive nucleus corresponding to the area of the Castle. Turning left along Via Riberia notable is at Nr 29 Monastery of St. Joseph and St. Theresa. The road ends up with the yard of St . Margareth's , now known as " chiesa del Carmine". Following Via del Carmine on the right towards Via dei Mulini noteworthy is the small church of the Blessed Sacrament called "Christ's" built in 1749 and recently restored. Entering Via Della Costa, already mentioned in 10th century documents, after some metres turn to the left climbing the cobbled steps of Via del Terraggio, Terraggio, undoubtedly the most medieval part of Vigevano. At the end of this road in Via dei Domenicani there is the mill of Porta Nuova, built in the 15th century on the Roggia Vecchia (old artificial canal) and still working. Going along Via dei Mulini you come to Corso della Repubblica, where at Ní19 there is the main door leading into the yard of Sanseverino Palace, built at the end of the 15th century by Galeazzo Sanseverino, Ludovico il Moro's son-in-law, a captain of the Sforzas' army. The yard has a portico running along three sides; the second floor is jutted out and is supported by 15th-century stone corbels. The forth side is closed by a beautiful gallery leaning on refined capitals and coussinets. Few years after being built the palace became the centre of a defensive system fortified with bastions and surrounded by a moat, and took the name of "Rocca Nuova" (New Fortress). In 1654, the fortifications were demolished, and the building was turned into a nunnery of the poor Clare nuns. In 1810 the nunnery was eliminated by the napoleonic anticlerical laws and the building became a civil residence. Following the Corso della Repubblica towards the centre you get to the small square of the Blessed Matteo, whose south side is occupied by the faìade of the church of St. Pietro Martire; according to a popular tradition it was built right on the spot where St. Dominic preached in the years between 1218 and 1220. Built together with the nearby monastery later than 1360, it was given by the inhabitants of Vigevano to the Dominican friars in 1446. It was enlarged and consecrated in 1480. During the last century the interior of the church underwent heavy modifications: a false ogival vault inserted in the nave concealed the beautiful original beam ceiling. The original characteristics of the church can still be seen in the transept. The high altar was made higher in order to permit the building of the "scurolo" in the crypt, where rest the mortal remains of Blessed Matteo Carreri from Mantova, patron of the town. The side chapels, starting from the right, are dedicated to St. Christopher, to St. Anthony from Padua, to St. Vincent Ferreri and to the Holy Trinity. In the transept, on the right, there is the Chapel of the Crucifixion, with the big wooden Crucifix that according to popular tradition spoke to Blessed Matteo. On the left, the Chapel to St. Peter the Martyr contains an important painting of an unknown painter representing the Saint's martyrdom. The chapels of the left aisle are respectively dedicated to St. Joseph, St. Dominic and to St. Pius V, who for many years had been the prior of the monastery nearby; beneath his altar rest the mortal remains of the blessed Catherine Nai Savina. The last chapel is to the Blessed Virgin of the Mercede. The pieces of furniture of the Sacresty made in 1469 by Bernardo from Legnano are exceptionally valuable and notheworthy. The Dominican Monastery on the right of the church is the seat of the local law court. The building was partially destroyed in 1645 during the French siege of the New Fortress. Striking for elegance and artistic value are the two cloisters of the building. The monastery, founded in the 13th century witnesses the three phases of Lombard art: the Gothic, the Renaissance and the Baroque. Gothic is in the powerful octagonal bell tower with the double jutting arches towering over the first cloister; Renaissance are the aereal arcades of the cloisters with Doric columns, and baroque are the finishing touches of the rooms and the windows and the frescos, hardly visible nowadays, which are under the cloisters arcades. Along Via del Popolo towards the Ducal Square you will see on the left the Palazzo Roncalli, built in 1851 by Senator Vincenzo Roncalli, a silk manufacturer, who bequithed his money to the town to build the technical schools which still bears his name. The school is equipped with a large technical laboratory for metal and mechanical work. Inside the Palace, noteworthy is the large 19th-century hall with Empire style furniture and somptuous frescos. Downwards on the right a nice wrought iron gate leads into the Church of St. Maria del Popolo, a very nice baroque building from 1698; the design is by the Roman architect Giovanni Ruggeri, the faìade dates from 1717. Inside, the church is aisleless, as is typical to the Roman baroque, with an additional rectangular area for the High Altar and the Choir. At the end of the apse a painting by Federico Bianchi represents the "Virgin's Purification", while a second painting by the same author "The Virgin's Wedding" is above the right altar. Both the works date from 1754. Above the left altar you will admire a 16th century "wooden Christ" and in the oval on the vault a painting by a seventeenth century unknown painter representing "The Virgin's Incoronation". Few steps more and you will be in the Ducal Square again, right in front of the Cathedral faìade which fantastically frames it in the distance.

Back	Home