Vigevano is a charming town in the heart of Lombardy’s Lomellina valley. Despite being rich in history, culture, and traditions, few people know about it and there’s not much information around.
Vigevano is a town and comune in the province of Pavia, Lombardy in northern Italy. A historic art town, it is also renowned for shoemaking and is one of the main centres of Lomellina, a rice-growing agricultural district. Vigevano received the honorary title of city with a decree of Duke Francis II Sforza on 2 February 1532. It is famed for its beautiful Renaissance „Piazza Ducale“ in the centre of the town.
Vigevano is the most important town in the fertile Italian rice producing region called Lomellina (also called the Holland of Lombardy), an immense plain containing many paddy fields and crossed by numerous watercourses.
Although we suggest you start your visit in Vigevano itself, to fully appreciate the arts and architecture of the Lomellina region it is necessary to leave Vigevano and explore other towns nearby such as Lomello and Mortara.
HIGLIGHTS
Vigevano can be considered one of the best-kept secrets near Milan. It’s beautiful and truly local, with very few tourists around, no selfie stick vendors and zero tacky souvenir shops. And when you do see tourists, they are mostly Italians visiting from the surrounding regions
Main sights
Castello Sforzesco
Vigevano is crowned by the Castello Sforzesco, a stronghold rebuilt 1492–94 for Ludovico Maria Sforza (Ludovico il Moro), the great patron born in the town, who transformed the fortification/hunting lodge of Luchino Visconti (who in turn had re-used a Lombard fortress) into a rich noble residence, at the cusp of Gothic and Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci was his guest at Vigevano, as was Bramante, who is ascribed with the tall tower that watches over the piazza from the Castello Sforzesco. The old castle has a unique raised covered road, high enough for horsemen to ride through, that communicates between the new palace and the old fortifications; there is a Falconry, an elegant loggiato supported by 48 columns, and, in the rear area of the mastio, the Ladies‘ Loggia made for Duchess Beatrice d’Este.
Piazza Ducale
Vigevano’s main attraction is the Piazza Ducale, an elongated rectangle that is almost in the proportions 1:3, built for Ludovico Sforza, starting in 1492-93 and completed in record time, unusual for early Renaissance town planning. Piazza Ducale was actually planned to form a noble forecourt to his castle, unified by the arcades that completely surround the square, an amenity of the new North Italian towns built in the 13th century. The town’s main street enters through a sham arcaded façade that preserves the unity of the space as at the Place des Vosges. Ludovico demolished the former palazzo of the commune of Vigevano to create the space.
At the outside of town is the La Sforzesca, a rectangular villa-fortress with corner palace-towers, built in 1486 by Ludovico il Moro.
Cathedral
In the 17th century one end of the Piazza Ducale was enclosed by the concave Baroque façade of the Cathedral, cleverly adjusted to bring the ancient duomo into a line perpendicular to the axis of the piazza and centered on it.
The Cathedral was begun in 1532 under Duke Francesco II, who commissioned the design to Antonio da Lonate. The edifice was completed in 1606. The interior is on the Latin cross plan, with a nave and two aisles, and houses works by Macrino d’Alba, Bernardino Ferrari and others, as well as tempera polyptych of the school of Leonardo da Vinci.
Vigevano is Definitely Off the Beaten Track
If you enjoy discovering Italian towns with lots of atmosphere, lots of Italians, and few tourists, this is one. In fact its main square (see point 3, below) is often referred to as one of the most beautiful and least known squares from the Italian Renaissance.
Vigevano is a Great Day Trip from Milan
At only 35 km away, Vigevano makes a great day trip from Milan. Hop on the train and you’re there in 30 minutes. Spend most of a day, and you’re back in Milan for dinner.
Vigevano has Beautiful architecture
The main square, called Piazza Ducale (the rectangle in the aerial photo), and the tower by Bramante are architectural gems built during the Renaissance. Leonardo Da Vinci was a guest at Vigevano and worked with Bramante, leaving his mark on the town as well. Vigevano’s castle, the Castello Sforzesco (also in photo above), is one of Europe’s largest. If the name of the castle rings a bell, note that Milan’s castle is also called the Sforzesco castle – built (or more accurately, rebuilt) by the same family, the Sforzas.
Vigevano has Fabulous Shoes
I admit I have a weakness for shoes in Italy. I often arrive with just the ones on my feet, and leave with quite a few pairs. Vigevano is a major center of shoe production in Italy, and the shoe industry overtook the town after World War II, causing its population to ‘explode’ from 17,000 in 1861 to over 65,000 today, and resulting in not-so-positive articles about Vigevano’s capitalist “shoe fetish”, like this one (in Italian). For anyone with an interest in the history of shoe construction, functionality, and design, visit the town’s shoe museum, which also displays shoes worn by famous historical Italians such as Beatrice D’Este, and has a section on historical shoe styles worldwide.
Lomello
Next head to Lomello, the town which gave its name to the region. In Lomello there are some important historic and architectural artefacts such as the 7th century baptistry of San Giovanni ad Fontes, erected in Longobard times. The building has an octagonal structure, a beautiful dome and is surrounded by rectangular and circular chapels in the Romanesque style.
The same architectural style can be seen in the 11th century Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, with its extraordinary rectangular bell tower in the sides of which four large Roman archs are visible.
Mortara: art in the cathedral
Painting is well represented in the Cathedral of Mortara, where you can see a Crucifixion by Giovan Battista Crespi (aka Cerano) dating from 1610, and also important works by Giulio Cesare Procaccino and Genovesino. There is also an interesting Virgin Mary of the Rosary (1578) by local painter Bernardino Lanino, while other interesting paintings here are by Girolamo Giovenone, with an altar piece of Virgin Mary and Child in the Church of San Lorenzo.
