Aosta to Mortara- Stretching Out My Italian

9/26 -10/05


1319.21 km from Canterbury

I arrived in Aosta quite early that day since I had hitched a ride in with the Italian farmer, Patrick. When I was here with my parents, I had been surprised at how many Roman ruins and tourist attractions the city held, especially since I hadn't heard anything about Aosta before departing on my pilgrimage. I hadn't seen much of the city when I was here with my parents so after Patrick took a photo of me in front of the Praetorian gate and left me with a "Buon viaggio!", I set off, intending to repair that oversight this time around. I left the tourist center map in hand and walked the length of the town visiting the different sights.

Aosta was an important site for Rome located on the junction of two rivers between the Grand and Little Saint Bernard Passes (the Little Saint Bernard Pass crosses the Alps into France). It originally had the layout of a military camp.

Praetorian gate

Aosta is surrounded by high mountains

One of the many exciting sites was the old Roman bridge. This is a smaller Roman bridge with one seventeen-meter long arch straddling a grassy field in between houses. It was built at the end of the 1st century BC across the Buthier River but, after several massive floods, the river had changed course so that it ran about 200 meters west of the bridge. The bridge is still perfectly preserved and is quite quaint.

Old Roman bridge

Following that street over the river one runs into the Arch of Augustus. This was a small triumphal arch that was erected after the foundation of the town in 25 BC to commemorate the victory of the Roman troops over the local tribes as well as to honor Emperor Augustus. According to a helpful local man who stopped by to chat with me while I took a picture, this is the only triumphal arch in the world with a roof attached! I don't know if this is true, but I thought that was cool all the same– and I was proud that I understood that in Italian :D

A one of a kind triumphal arch!

Walking further west into the city, I visited the Sant'Orso Collegiate Church which stood underneath a bell tower and faced the ruins of the early-Christian Basilica of San Lorenzo.

Tall bell tower

In between the two churches was an ancient tree that had been split in two and carved out by fire- still flourishing against all the odds. It was a very symbolic looking tree, and you could tell it was well cared for, with a fence ringing around it and supports on the two split parts helping to hold it upright. The sign in front of the tree stated that the existing tree was planted between 1530 and 1550, replacing an ancient Elm tree that had been felled by strong winds. According to legend, the Elm tree had been planted at the same time that San'Orso was built, in the 11th century. In 1951, a violent storm split and burnt the center of the tree. Despite this, the tree blooms every year and, since 1924, has been declared a national monument!

The ancient tree!

The Church of San'Orso was wonderful. It was built in the 11th century on the remains of an earlier Carolingian church. Most of the building that you can see was renovated in the 15th century in the Ottonian style.

Sant'Orso Collegiate Church

When frescoes are painted over, the artist must chip pieces out of the wall to ensure the fresh layer will grip onto the wall so you can always tell when a fresco has been painted over by this pattern!

St. Sebastian

The oldest remains of the church can be seen in the Romanesque crypt which is hewn and finished in rough and sturdy stone.

Attached to the church was a fantastic cloister with incredibly carved Romanesque capitals featuring different scenes from the Bible as well as foliage and pictures of animals. The cloister was finished in 1133, a date you can see on one of the capitals.

Flight into Egypt

The cloister was decorated in white marble with the columns painted in dark paint, you can see the difference in the restored capital that this paint makes a difference in making it easier to see the carving on the capitals.

Walking across the square in front of San'Orso, I entered the museum of the Paleochristian St. Laurence Church, a basilica dating from the 5th century, a more modern Gothic church resting above these remains. In Roman times this site was just outside the walls (Romans never built necropoli inside city limits), and it developed into a vast necropolis. After the Christianization of this area, a basilica was built over the necropolis in the 5th century, and the first bishops of Aosta were buried here. The building contained many grave-sites that filled the whole floor plan until the building was destroyed in the 8th century by a massive fire. On top of the remains, a small single-nave church was rebuilt and modified throughout the centuries, losing the necropolis to history until recent archeological excavations brought it back to light!

Floor plan of the basilica

It was kind of a stressful visit actually. The site itself was very cool, and you could see the floor plan of the basilica with the many graves open to view, but the man who was working was quite the situation! He was very old and clearly very bored (it was the end of the tourist season, and I was the only tourist in there). He was so excited to have a person to talk to that he took me around for fifteen minutes yelling at me in the most indiscernibly slurred English so that I couldn't understand a word he said and not pausing once to let me get a word in, or excuse myself. When I finally extricated myself and went downstairs to look at the ruins the lights were off! Filled with consternation, I returned up the stairs to ask him to turn them on. He latched on to the opportunity to talk again, and I found myself being yelled at in quasi-English for another ten minutes!!

Remains of the basilica

After I extricated myself again and, with staunch relief, exited the building, I walked west until I got to the Praetorian Gate. This was incredible! It was so large and well preserved! It had two parallel walls with parallel arches for traffic in and out of the city. Each wall had three arches: two little ones for foot traffic and one large one in the center for carts and horses. In some areas, you could still see bits of marble that had at one point covered the entire gate! The gate was attached to Roman walls that spanned almost the entire old Roman city. The Roman walls were still incredibly well-preserved!

Main street in Aosta

Praetorian Gate

Next to the Praetorian Gate was a tall brick tower that had been turned into a wealthy residence in the Middle Ages: you could see a little latrine hanging off one side :)

A little marble is still attached to the gate

Just inside the walls were the remains of the Roman theater. These remains could be seen from all around in the city and were very tall and imposing. The theater is 22 meters high and was built in the 1st century AD. At its zenith, this theater was big enough to hold four thousand spectators!

Grand remains!

Up until the excavations of the theater, houses and shops had been built against the ruin, using its ancient walls as one of their own!

After restoration

The mountains surrounding Aosta were gorgeous!

North of the theater the remains of the Roman amphitheater can be seen in the curve of a block of houses. You can even see a few bottom arches built into the houses!

After visiting the theater, I continued down the main street passing the town hall and main square.

Townhall

I also visited the archeological museum and the Roman Cryptoporticus. These both showed incredibly well preserved Roman remains beneath street level. The Cryptoporticus is horseshoe shaped and is formed by two parallel tunnels with barrel vaults. It dates back to Augustan times and was attached to the Roman forum, separating the religious portion of town from the legal part. Unfortunately, they were doing work on the forum so I couldn't visit that area but I was able to see into a window over it. haha

Cryptoporticus

Recycled columns!

Lastly, I visited the Cathedral which dates back to the 4th century. In the 11th century, Bishop Anselm had the Romanesque part of the building built and dedicated the cathedral to the Assumption and Saint John the Baptist. Inside the Cathedral is a treasury that was unfortunately closed while I was there but is supposed to host a vast array of reliquaries and precious artifacts.

Cathedral entrance

Part of the Baptistery that dates from the 4th century!

Crypt dating from the 12th century

A reliquary in the treasury 

A picture of St. Bernard on the pass to Switzerland

I camped that night outside of the city in a campsite that was the home of a family of stray kittens. I spent several hours trying to coax them enough to let me hold them, but alas, I was to find that Italian kitties are a skittish bunch and my dreams of holding them have been thwarted at every turn! I did meet a British fellow who was biking from England to Greece to help with refugees. We spent a pleasant evening conversing in English and talking about our trips.

Spent the night at the base of these mountains!

So many cute kittens!

The next day I truly began the Italian portion of my pilgrimage. For the next three days, I walked through the Aosta Valley into the flatlands of Northern Italy. This section was the most beautiful area! It was quite similar to the Swiss portion leading up to Saint Bernard, but the hills rose more steeply from the valley floor and castles sprouted out of every defensible rock and hill. I highlighted all the castles in the valley on my GPS, and it created a zigzag sea of castles! 

Castle Wonderland in the Aosta Valley

During the Middle Ages, the Aosta Valley was covered with small fragmented kingdoms, and the medieval lords who ruled over their small domains built fortresses to defend their lands. Today seventy castles still survive in some form or another! Walking along the valley, one could usually tell the older castles from the newer. The earlier castles were built to be defensive, and they generally occupied the better defensive positions while the later castles, such as Fénis castle, were still built as a defense, but their primary function served as a residence as well as a display of wealth, comfort and opulence.

Ruined castle perched on the crags above me

That first day I walked mostly along the valley floor on a cycle path next to the river. Someone had spray-painted lovely messages along the pathway, and as I walked along, I translated them.

I adore you

You are the world to me

I was passed by several bikers, including the British fellow biking to Greece!

When I arrived in the town of Fénis around midday, I stopped to visit the castle because it was the most quintessential fairytale fortress.

Fénis Castle

Fénis Castle was first documented in the 13th century as a property of the Challant family. It was just a keep with walls until Aimone and his son Bonifacio of Challant underwent an extensive expansion program in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. After this point, the castle inside was enlarged and surrounded by a double concentric curtain wall. 

The main entrance was surmounted by a barbican and portcullis and the approach to the residential quarters at the center was strategically labyrinth-like. The central residential part of the castle is a pentagon with round towers on the corners and sides to provide the residence with extra protection. 

The castle was only viewable by tour which was in very rapid Italian, so I was only able to understand bits and pieces. The inside of the castle was very cool. After several centuries of abandonment (many of which were spent with the castle being used as a barn and farmhouse!), it's not possible to know the original function of many of the rooms. Throughout the castle, there was a plethora of medieval chests and furniture many of which were intricately carved with designs. 

The kitchen was quite incredible! The fireplace was absolutely massive! Six fully grown people could dance around comfortably in there!

HUGE kitchen fireplace!!

Dining room

Two tiny adorable chairs perhaps for children

Bonifacio had commissioned the Piedmontese painter Giacomo Jaqueiro to paint frescoes in the castle's chapel and the inner courtyard. The chapel was gorgeously decorated in bright colors. The focus of the chapel was split between a scene of the Challant family sheltered beneath the protective and nurturing cloak of the Virgin Mary and Christ on the Cross.

The Virgin Mary

Saints and Angels- I even spy Joan of Arc!

The frescoes in the inner courtyard were magical! The central fresco above the staircase shows St. George saving the princess from the dragon. The railings were painted, and the walls above had pictures of saints and figures of legend. 

Looking into the courtyard

It was a petite courtyard despite its grandeur

The centerpiece

St. George slaying the dragon

During its heyday the castle had a vegetable plot, vineyard and a garden where the family and guests could enjoy life. The Challant family came on hard times in the second half of the 15th century and in 1716 the castle, in a state of abandon, was sold to pay off the families debts. Thus began its ruin until the architect Alfred d'Andrade, inspired by the ruined shell, began restoration in the 19th century.

Leaving Fénis, I continued walking along the valley floor along the river. The mountains rose on either side of me steep and tall. I remembered my panorama function on my phone, so there are a lot more of those here. I really wish I had taken more panoramas of Switzerland!!

Walking along the riverside path was very pleasant!

Fortress balanced atop a hillside

That night I checked into the religious pilgrim hostel in Chatillon and was surprised to see Billy the Irishman again! 

Surveying the peasants below

Billy and I walked together the next day to the town of Donnas. The path led us along the hillsides following trails uphill from the valley floor. This was an exceptionally gorgeous walk with incredible views down the Aosta Valley both toward the Great Saint Bernard Pass in the west and Ivrea in the south. I saw so many castles on the hilltops along the way!

Looking back towards Aosta

Sun just rising over the valley to Donnas and Bard Castle

We left Chatillon before we had a chance to eat and so spent a few hours during the morning looking for a cafe to sit down and have a cappuccino and croissant in. Finally, around midmorning we ate breakfast!

Via Francigena signs everywhere now!

When we reached a quaint little town beneath a castle, we stopped and ordered a menu consisting of pasta with tomatoes and hamburger (minus the bun) with fries. Fully sated after our large lunch, we proceeded on along the side of the valley until we reached Bard Castle.

The highway cruised along at the base of the valley

All the little Italian towns along the valley had a water fountain every 100 meters or so, enough even that I was surprised I had ever run out of water up in France. Billy carried several little plastic water bottles that he would fill up in every town because he wanted to experience all the different minerals in the area!

Bard Castle is a fortress running down a hill in the center of the valley. The fortress was actually rebuilt after Napoleon's 40,000 troops besieged the medieval fortress in 1800. The defenders held out for 15 days before surrendering and were awarded honors by Napoleon afterward because he was so impressed with their intrepidity.

Bard Castle

The modern town of Bard

The present fortress had been built by the Savoys. I actually ended up skirting the fortress and walking through the old medieval town of Bard which was adorable and tiny.

The one street of the medieval town

Medieval house with painting

The entrance into the little town of Donnas was incredible! There was an ancient Roman road that had been carved out of the rock leading into the town. The main road of the old town continued arrow straight following the Roman road out of the city too.

Apparently, the Romans had carved the road out of the sheer rock cliff above! Along the Roman road also cut into the rock face was an arch as well as a Roman milestone!! The first one I've seen in situ!

Roman milestone

That night Billy and I stayed in a little parish hostel with bunk beds.

Donnas road

The next morning Billy got up and left early while I took my time getting ready. A few minutes after he left, a scorpion came out from under his bed and scared me to death! We fought a great battle that morning, and I'm proud to say that I won. The last time I had seen a scorpion was in Honey I Shrunk the Kids!


That day I walked by myself but caught up with Billy again in Ivrea. In the morning I started to leave the mountains. I walked through Pont-Saint-Martin where there is a famous Roman bridge from either 120 BC or 25 BC (the date is uncertain).

The story surrounding the bridge is quite amusing. It apparently has another name: the Devil's Bridge! This is because, long ago when the bridge was wooden, St Martin was passing through the town. One night the river washed the bridge away and the Devil came and offered to rebuild it in a single night if he received the soul of the first person to cross it in the morning. St Martin accepted, and after the bridge was built, he threw a piece of bread over to the other side so that the first soul to cross was a starving stray dog. The Devil, enraged by the saint's duplicity, disappeared from the town forever and the bridge still stands to this day!

Following the signs

Don't be scared of the dog, worry about the owner!

After leaving the quaint little town, I walked along the street into the little town of Carema. As I was passing by a garden, a little old man called out to me. His wife came out and, upon seeing me with all my gear on my back, asked if I would sit down for a cup of coffee with them. Overjoyed I joined them and departed on the loveliest hour of my life conversing with this little old Italian couple (he was 87 and she 80) while they talked about their life in the north of Italy and their daughter who was a teacher down in Ivrea. They sent me off with a bag of grapes from their garden-- the juiciest, ripest grapes I have ever tasted!! It was an incredible encounter and reminded me of the essential kindness of people.

Carema was surrounded by the most beautiful vineyards. Many of these were supported by tall stone and concrete pillars making this area seem very Mediterranean.

Watched these fellows land during my lunch break

I arrived in Ivrea early afternoon. Ivrea is a lovely city straddling the river Dora Baltea. It has Roman origins, as all these towns do! I stayed in the Canoe Club hostel that sat right over the man-made rapids in the river. Kayakers were enjoying the sun, and several were playing in the rapids just below our windows.

The Canoe Club had a list of all the Via Francigena pilgrims that had stayed with them from 2015-2016! These pilgrims were sorted into nationality, and sex and I was interested to see that the USA was way down at number eleven for the number of pilgrims in 2015. Only two American women and five American men had stayed in this pilgrim hostel in 2015! That goes to show how obscure this pilgrimage is, especially to Americans!

Nationalities of pilgrim visitors

Ivrea was the first town where I felt truly out of the mountains. The city rests inside the Moraine Amphitheatre of Ivrea which was created by the retreat of the Balteo Glacier and "is one of the world's best preserved geological conformations of glacial origin characterized by the long outline of the Serra, a moraine ridge of 25 kilometers, and dotted with lakes" (quote from a poster in the Canoe Club hostel!). The city of Ivrea was known in Roman times as Eporedia, or the place to change horses, and had a strategic position at the entrance to the Alp passes.

An informative poster on the geology of the area!

The first thing one sees when entering the city is the castle with tall towers and walls all built in red brick. This was the fortress built in 1358 by Amedeo VI of Savoy. The town itself still has large sections of its medieval and Roman walls still standing.

Looking out over the city of Ivrea from the castle that night!

Today Ivrea is well-known for its Carnival, a celebration leading up to Ash Wednesday. During the Carnival, there are parades, horse races, and frivolity. The "soul" of the Carnival is Violetta. The legend goes that the miller's daughter, Violetta, was married to her love. During this time, Ivrea followed the tradition of jus primae noctis, or the right of the marquis or lord of the city to the virginity of a bride (recognize this from Braveheart???). Well, Violetta was a strong-willed lass and recognized this tradition for the repugnancy it was and beheaded the marquis during the night. This action was the catalyst that sent Ivrea into a revolt that exiled the rulers from the city. Violetta thus became a heroine and the symbol for the freedom of the city, and since then, every Carnival, the woman who gets to play Violetta is the star of the festival!

The Carnival culminates in a three-day world-famous Battle of the Oranges! During these three days, millions of oranges are used as projectiles by teams on foot or in horse-drawn carriages!

Image by Traveller Soul

Image by Tour Italy Now

The next day I had a very long walk, 33 kilometers!! I was walking to the town of Santhià which got its name from St Agatha, to which the 10th-century church is dedicated. This section began my tedious pathway through the rice and corn fields of Northern Italy. This section was to quickly grow tedious, and it lasted for at least a week!

Spot the pilgrim!

Rice paddy fields all around

For my mid-morning break, I stopped in a small town outside Santhià and bought my customary cappuccino and croissant. The cafe was filled with old men playing cards and gossiping, and there was a little "rest stop" for animals in the corner!

I was finding that in Italy the prices for pretty much everything were much more reasonable than those in Switzerland and even France. Whereas in France I only bought the occasional coffee and croissant for a treat and instead ate about 95 percent of my food from the grocery store– and in Switzerland I didn't eat anything out– in Italy I was able to make a habit of stopping mid-morning every day if there was a town and buying a two euro cappuccino and croissant. Billy had given me this idea, and I soon cherished this habit. I think it definitely kept me saner than when I was in France!

Kitty enjoying the "animal rest stop"

I reached Santhià late that afternoon exhausted! There was nothing much excitement about this town except that it had a teensy tiny old town which was pleasant to walk around in. The pilgrim hostel was very nice, and I had the whole bunk bedroom to myself! A small luxury!

Parts of the medieval wall integrated into this building- you can see the crenellations still

Old police station

Town of Santhià in 1682

Vercelli was a magnificent experience on the other hand! I walked through more rice and corn fields until I walked into this colorful and lively city. On the walk in I bought a new pair of shoes at the Decathlon superstore. BEST DECISION EVER! My old shoes had lost most of their traction and still persisted in giving me blisters. I bought a much lighter pair of trail walking shoes, and these ended up being the perfect shoes! They were light and breathable, and I didn't receive a single blister from them! Also, they were pink and adorable, a plus when you're always dirty and sweaty!

Devil Keens!

My new babies!

It was cloudy, promising rain later, when I arrived at the hostel in Vercelli where I was met by the volunteers at the hostel, Giulio and his older brother Giovanni. These two sweet men were the high point of my stay in Vercelli! Giulio spoke only a little English and Giovanni didn't speak any, so I was able to practice my Italian a lot. Those two men felt like family by the end of my two-day stay, we were joking around and playing jokes on each other and cooking and eating all our meals together.

Giovanni and Giulio my two Italian Grandpas!

During the first day, there were two other German pilgrims who spoke a little Italian and more English, and I found myself working as a translator between all the different sides at the dinner table which was an incredibly exciting and new experience for me and one I definitely want to repeat. It gave me more fire to pursue learning languages! After I dropped my things in the hostel I walked around the city briefly. Giovanni walked me to the tourist office so I could get some maps and guide materials in English. Then I followed a self-guided tour through the city for several hours until it was cut short by the incoming rain.

That night Giulio, Giovanni and I all cooked dinner together and had a raucous and lively meal with the two German ladies. The next day The Amici della Via Francigena, a nonprofit organization from Vercelli, who had opened the hostel invited me to participate in their fundraiser tour of the Cathedral di Sant'Eusebio, the Archbishop's Palace and the Basilica of Sant'Andrea. I accepted and spent the entire morning with a large group of elderly Italian folks who were all very interested in me and my journey. I soon became something of a curiosity to them all, the president of the group introduced me and told a little of my story- to entice the donations I think ;)

Unfortunately, the tour was in very rapid Italian again so I was only able to understand it a little bit, but the buildings were all incredible. The cathedral itself was not that attractive, but the treasury was fascinating.

The cathedral and archbishop's palace

The most famous "treasure" being the Vercelli Book (which wasn't on display at the time). This is a 10th-century manuscript written in Old English and contains twenty-three homilies and six Anglo-Saxon poems about religious topics. It has had a significant influence in the study of the formation of modern English. The Vercelli Book is thought to have been brought by a pilgrim on his way to Rome or Jerusalem and who died in Vercelli at the pilgrim hospital between 1100 and 1200.

Image by the Lazarus Project

Another interesting treasure was the Romanesque crucifix. It is a significant piece from the Middle Ages made at the beginning of the 11th century it was made entirely of gold and silver foil with gold inlays. This is the largest of four remaining Ottonian crucifixes- the others are in Milan, Casale, and Pavia- and suffered a terrible act of vandalism in 1983 before being restored.

This piece was at least a foot taller than me!

I especially liked this reliquary with the odd bird creature and the zombie angel :D

Zombie angel

The gem of the tour was definitely the Basilica of Sant'Andrea. This gorgeous church was made with red and white stone and was entirely built in nine years from 1219-1227!! That is astounding if you consider that similar building projects during this period took over a century to complete, and that is not even counting the numerous projects that were never entirely completed!!

Basilica of Sant'Andrea

The church is considered the symbol of Vercelli and is an extraordinary architectural combination of Romanesque and Gothic styles with Norman and Provencal influences. The green western facade was unfortunately encased in scaffolding, but the inside was absolutely magnificent! The layout is that of a Latin cross with the nave and side aisles soaring upwards from compound pillars of green stone and crosses of green and red stone above. The rose windows added a beautiful glow of light.

Central nave

Cupola in the center

A model of the green facade

The cloister was peaceful with the ubiquitous amorous Italian teenagers lounging on the pillars canoodling.

The choir at the end of the hall is a gorgeous wooden 16th-century confection of inlaid wood. Depicted on these stalls are scenes of everyday life, symbols, religious scenes, and still-lives.

In front of the basilica is the Ospedale dei Pellegrini founded in 1224. At its entrance rests a 13th century painted lunette and there is a beautiful 16th-century fresco inside.

Walking around by myself afterward the tour I visited several other churches. Vercelli is filled with them!

Chiesa di San Bernardo

The Chiesa di San Marco hosts modern exhibitions, but the highlight were the remains of beautiful and recently discovered medieval frescoes.

Saints and Apostles

There were several medieval towers still standing about the town. Many of the buildings would showcase old medieval elements still present on their facades.

The Chiesa di San Cristoforo is covered with beautiful frescoes. The interior is actually quite dark-- though I think the cloudy sky didn't help. The church was built in 1515 and filled with trompe l'oeil frescoes along the side aisles. The frescoes were done by Gaudenzio Ferrari.

The unassuming exterior of San Cristoforo

The glorious interior

Beautiful frescoes covering the interior

The synagogue was beautiful as well, built in the late 19th century and with an Arab-Moresque style, it had a facade finished in white and blue stones.

A cute shop near the mosque with handmade wooden buildings 

Vercelli is excellent about dating any structure of interest, and along all of its streets, there are yellow signs that name a building and place it in history for the dedicated tourist.

The main piazza, Piazza Cavour, which was likely built on the old Roman forum, is a center for town life and a beautiful picture of Italian tranquility...

Market in Piazza Cavour the first day

Sunnier the second day

Until a fantastic carnival wound its way through the piazza following hundreds of people in period dress- even a few Adams family-like characters. I wasn't sure what the carnival/parade was about-- it seemed most people were confused. Most of Vercelli walked into the square and enjoyed the festivities! It was a lovely surprise and quite funny to watch.

Vampire Addams family

Versailles

The Asparagus Man!

I'm not sure who this is... Queen of Hearts?

Everyone milling together at the end of the procession

Her outfit is tied in awesomeness with the Asparagus Man's

WWII soldiers

I ate dinner again with Giulio and Giovanni as well as with two Swiss pilgrims that I would walk with for the next two days. Vercelli was such a wonderful experience- one of the best ones so far on this trip-- this pilgrimage has definitely proved to me how friendly, supportive and kind people are. I have been shown so much love and kindness, and I can only hope to contribute the same kind of energy to others during and after this journey!

Leaving Vercelli

From Vercelli, I continued along the rice and corn fields which were boring and bland. For the first few hours, I could see the departing snow-capped Alps in the distance but this last evidence of my Northern journey disappeared by afternoon.

One fascinating aspect for me was the unassuming small churches and chapels along the way in the little towns that had been around since the Middle Ages. These chapels were in most of the villages we passed through on our way to Pavia.

In Robbio, there was a grand Romanesque 13th-century church around the corner from the town hall where we had a room.

The Virgin protecting the donors for the building

There was also a really cool castle in Robbio and miniature versions of the walls and gateway, but I couldn't find any information on it, so I just took some photos.

Tiny turret on a tiny gateway

Medieval tower with painting still decorating it

On the way out of the town, there was another little tiny 13th century chapel with some beautiful frescoes.

So quaint and adorable

The route continued along the flat and featureless fields of rice and corn. The road was speckled with canals and streams feeding the fields which made for an aggressive mosquito population through these parts.

In the town, just before Mortara, we all stopped (I was walking with the two Swiss men and a German woman) in a little church that had a beautiful fresco of the 773 AD battle between Charlemagne and the Lombards in Pulcra Silva (the Roman name for Mortara).

In Mortara, I visited the Basilica of San Lorenzo, a beautiful gothic confection with a brick facade built in the 14th century. It hosted beautiful mosaics of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the ciborium.

Ciborium

Jerusalem

Bethlehem

In Mortara, we stayed just a kilometer out of town in the Church of San Albino. This was a very cool stay since in the Middle Ages this church was an important stopping place for pilgrims.

San Albino is one of the mother churches of the 5th century in Lomellina region and was used by Charlemagne as a burial ground for the soldiers that died in the battle between the Lombards and Franks.

The church was built mostly in Romanesque style with some Renaissance features, a bell tower and the remains of the cloister. 

Single nave

The two Swiss and I slept in a side building next to the historical church. Unfortunately, the building had had a wasp nest in the roofing, and they had just sprayed the nest the day before so I kept finding crawling wasps on my bed... Luckily they were all pretty docile and easy to contain and put outside by that point, but it didn't make sleeping on that bed any easier! The nun working made us a spectacular dinner of chicken and pasta and a delicious breakfast though so it all worked out in the end!

Our three little beds

The room that we stayed in had a door leading right into the church itself. This was a tiny little church, but near the apse, you could see dates carved into the brick by pilgrims who had traveled through Mortara! The dates of these markings varied from 1100- the oldest one!!- to 1400. 

Jacob Cergrac (?) carved his whole name

Another full name!

The next day I took a train to Milan to pick up my boyfriend, Chad, who will be walking with me for the remainder of my pilgrimage. This is his first time in Europe, and he's very excited to see everything! I was also able to wash all of my clothes in a machine for the first time in a while, and it was the sweetest thing!! Literally! :D

Until next time!