DOI chapter:
Chap. XV: Passage of the Bocchetta - Novi - Marengo - Tortona - the Po - the Tesino - Pavia, its History, Edifices and University - the Abbey of Chiaravalle
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62268#0524
514 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XV.
indeed are not so much bestowed as squandered
on every part; but they are all so rich, so per-
fect in their kind, so well placed for effect, and
so admirably adapted to the style of the edifice
at large, that the most fastidious observer would
find it difficult to retrench them.
This abbey was founded about the year 1400
by Galeas Visconti, whose tomb stands on one
side of the transept; though the church itself
may justly be considered as his real mausoleum.
A few Augustinian friars are now employed to
perform the duties required by the foundation,
and to keep the church in order; a task which
they fulfil with pnmmpndnblp zeal and exactness,
as few similar edifices exhibit more neatness,
and cleanliness, than that entrusted to their
care. The view from the tower over the sur-
rounding plain, bordered by the Alps and Apen-
nines, is verdant, rich, and luxuriant beyond
expression. Besides these qualities it has another
title to our attention, as it was the theatre of the
bloody and decisive battle of Pavia, between
the French and the Imperialists, which termi-
nated in the defeat of the former, and in the
capture of their gallant monarch Francis I.
A French traveller* relates an anecdote that
* Abbe Richard.
indeed are not so much bestowed as squandered
on every part; but they are all so rich, so per-
fect in their kind, so well placed for effect, and
so admirably adapted to the style of the edifice
at large, that the most fastidious observer would
find it difficult to retrench them.
This abbey was founded about the year 1400
by Galeas Visconti, whose tomb stands on one
side of the transept; though the church itself
may justly be considered as his real mausoleum.
A few Augustinian friars are now employed to
perform the duties required by the foundation,
and to keep the church in order; a task which
they fulfil with pnmmpndnblp zeal and exactness,
as few similar edifices exhibit more neatness,
and cleanliness, than that entrusted to their
care. The view from the tower over the sur-
rounding plain, bordered by the Alps and Apen-
nines, is verdant, rich, and luxuriant beyond
expression. Besides these qualities it has another
title to our attention, as it was the theatre of the
bloody and decisive battle of Pavia, between
the French and the Imperialists, which termi-
nated in the defeat of the former, and in the
capture of their gallant monarch Francis I.
A French traveller* relates an anecdote that
* Abbe Richard.