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Only a genius like me could decide to visit the Certosa di Pavia on a Monday. Unsurprisingly, the monastery was closed, so you will have to make do with this view of it.
But since I had gone all the way out there, I could not go back without taking a look around the area. First of all, I would like to remind fellow travellers that the place is easily reachable by train: there are plenty of services departing from Milan Rogoredo or Pavia.
When reading or hearing the expression «Certosa di Pavia», one immediately thinks of the famous monastery, so it came almost as a surprise to me to discover the municipality with the same name, located just a few hundred metres from its walls.
In the historic centre of the village we find the gate of the castle built in the 12th century: it is all that remains of it. The cathedral glimpsed behind it has nothing particularly noteworthy.
With the castle gone, the oldest remaining building is the privately owned «Antico Borgo della Certosa»: various kinds of events are organised inside it. They say it is quite nice inside, but seen from the outside it has nothing of interest.
The village is crossed by the Naviglio Pavese. Looking at it from the bridge, we see the section that continues towards Milan…
… and the one that comes from Pavia, about a quarter wider. The brick building is a milling factory. For some unknown reason, the country road that runs between its fence and the Naviglio is strewn with decapitated pigeons, some of them still fresh. So the most sensible part of our photographic expedition vetoed the idea of taking a walk in that direction. I apologise to readers for the inconvenience caused.
As you may know, the Naviglio was originally navigable. And within the territory of the municipality of Certosa di Pavia there is one of its locks. Now, for some inexplicable, illogical and certainly stupid reason, this lock is blocked by a few metal beams (visible behind the gate): navigation has ceased.
The second gate of the lock therefore becomes useless and is consequently kept permanently open.
The control cabin has been out of use for a few decades (though not too many, judging by the type of electrical panel and the Shall barrel).
The diversion channel is now the main route of the Naviglio’s water.
But let us return to looking for more up-to-date points of interest in the village. For example, we can notice the tiny petrol station: it has been years since I last came across one this small.
All kinds of meters (gas, electricity, water, etc.) are installed outside the houses and hidden inside small boxes that look like mini dog kennels (or enormous letterboxes?):
The local navigation system:
Waste separation is implemented at a very advanced level: it even includes the collection of «green» waste.
The benches and litter bins most commonly found in Certosa di Pavia have nothing particularly distinctive about them.
The «bar—restaurant» located a hundred metres from the monastery (therefore the most frequented spot in the area) looks abandoned.
The local flowerbeds, on the other hand, are original and interesting. Those that look like giant cooking pots (in the background) are produced by a company from Cremona, but in that city I had not seen anything like them.
The buildings closest to the monastery are these old terraced houses which, thanks to their style, do not disturb the historical setting at all. And they certainly do so much less than the word «Carabinieri» written just a few metres from the entrance.
What is striking is that even there a mysterious gardener has managed to carve out a little corner. I thought that in Italy they were all concentrated along motorways and railway lines.
That’s it, there is nothing else of interest in the village called Certosa di Pavia.
A few months later, however, I did manage to visit the monastery.
